


Hunting the Hunters

by TheHuntersDragon



Series: The Hunters [1]
Category: Supernatural, Vampire Academy Series - Richelle Mead
Genre: Action, Crossover, Demons, Dragons, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-21
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-02-09 19:34:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 76,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1995237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHuntersDragon/pseuds/TheHuntersDragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose Hathaway is a dhampir novice... Or is she?.. Her real name is Clary Rosemarie Winchester and she is a Hunter who hunts much worse creatures than just the Strigoi. Her kind is being hunted by the dhampirs and Moroi, the people that she shares her home with. Will she choose her own kind and family or the enemy who she has come to call family. Can she choose? Slight SPN crossover.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Quick, get out of here now!" he screamed on the top of his lungs. "Dean, take Sam and Clary outside now!" He ran into Sam's room screaming stop it. I could smell burning. Everything was hot and it felt like my lungs were on fire.

"Run!" I barely heard Dean say it. Everything was moving so fast. Before I knew it we had sprinted down the stairs and ran outside. Already outside were Jon and Chase. From here we could see the house covered in an orange blanket of flames. My Dad ran out of the house as fast as he could. By now, he had tears running down his face uncontrollably. We all watched in silence as our house burnt down.

"Daddy, Where is Mummy?" I asked the question that would haunt me for the rest of my life, but what was worst was the answer.

"Your Mum's dead, Clary. I'm sorry. A demon killed her."

We all stood still as we processed the news. She's dead. I would of cried like waterfalls coming from my eyelids but I was used to this news. Everyday people would die around us. It was nothing new. That's what it's like being one of us. Slowly, I unconsciously let a tear fall down. But I wiped it away before anyone could see. I thought I got away with it, but Dean saw and he had done the same. The others weren't as controlled as us. All of my brothers except for the two of us were crying hysterically. Like rain falling down their cheeks. Dad was like us, controlled. But, I knew he was dying on the inside. We stood there waiting for others to come, quietly, just watching our house be burnt down to the ground.

That's when I woke up. That's when I always wake up. I always have that dream. Or nightmare should I say. No one knows except for Dean. Out of all my siblings, he's the one I'm closer to. I don't talk about it much. I can't. No one here knows the truth about me except for my team. People here think I'm a 17 year old dhampir novice who has killed two Strigoi. They think my name is Rosemarie Hathaway. They are all wrong. My real name is Clary Rosemarie Winchester. And I'm not a dhampir. I'm a hunter.

There are more than just humans on this world. There are demons and vampires, werewolves and shapeshifters, and many more. But also there are the Moroi and dhampirs. Moroi are mortal vampires who can control one of the five elements. The dhampirs are half Moroi and half human. They protect the Moroi from the Strigoi, a type of immortal vampire. Their kinds are at war. A war they are losing. But, then you have the Hunters and the Elementals. That's me. The Elementals are a race who can control one or more elements each. Us, the Hunters, are half Elemental and half human. We, like the dhampirs, protect the Elementals from all the supernatural creatures who want both our kinds dead. But whereas the Moroi let the dhampirs do the work and die for there safety, the Elementals fight alongside us. But instead we can have abilities passed down to us, whereas the dhampirs are just stronger. Moroi and dhampirs are at war with our kind. They are hunting us down and killing us all. I don't know why they are doing this. That's the whole reason I'm here. We don't hurt them when they attack. We don't need to. We are much more skilled than them. It's obvious. That's why they only get a kill every few years and even then they are just luck. But, there are still much less of us than them. Our kind is still trying to recover from the events of 500 years ago, when the war started. Our numbers took a drastic fall. I'm here to find out why they are doing this and to figure out how to stop it. We infiltrated them by posing as seven young dhampirs and Moroi and since then we have been gathering information to help us stop this war.

No one here knows what we truly are. Not even my best friend and bondmate, Vassilissa Dragomir, or my mentor and the guy I love, Dimitri Belikov. If they did, they'd kill me...


	2. Chapter 1-Arriving back home

**Chapter 1-Arriving back home**

"See you Charlie." Sydney says to me while still laughing at a joke I just said. She drops me off about a mile or two away from the academy, just off the highway because she can't come to the academy.

"Bye Sydney." Sydney is an old friend of mine. I've known her ever since we were kids. She's an alchemist. That means she's a human who knows about us and the rest of the supernatural world. It also means she knows about the Moroi and Dhampirs. The alchemists don't particularly like the Moroi and Dhampirs. Calling them 'evil creatures of the night' and other things like that and I understand that. I used to do the same. But not anymore. Since I came to the academy, I have gained a lot of respect for the Dhampirs and Moroi. Well... some of the Moroi anyway. The alchemists are different with us. More friendly. More trusting. They always have been.

There are two divisions of the alchemists. First, there's the Moroi and Dhampir division. They are the alchemists who deal with the Dhampir and Moroi and help them cover up the Strigoi and their kills from the rest of the world. That's the lower ranks of the alchemists. No one tells them about us, the Hunters and Elementals, in fear that they would accidentally let something slip to a Moroi or a Dhampir. And if they knew the alchemists were helping us they would turn against the alchemists in a second and most likely hunt them down as well. The second division is the supernatural division. That's the one that deals with us. Only the best alchemists get promoted to the supernatural division. They help us cover our messes. And there's quite a bit of them. Let's just say we're not the most discreet when we're hunting. Also, they help us hide from the humans, Dhampirs and Moroi and in return we hunt cases they have found for us. They usually only go to certain Hunters and Elementals with these cases. The best of the best. And I'm lucky enough to be one of them. The cases are usually extremely tough and more often than not land me in a heap of trouble with the government. Luckily for me though, the alchemists take care of it quickly. We have a good relationship with the alchemists, with it even going as far as having a few as members on our council.

The Dhampirs and Moroi wait until they are old enough and nearly at the end of graduation to tell the Dhampirs about the alchemists and most Moroi never get told. But as children, we are told about the alchemists and everything else in our world straight away. We grow up aware of the dangers in the world whereas the Dhampirs are protected from the truth until they are on the verge of going out into the real world, not fully prepared for the danger. Doing this makes us stronger and them weaker, and as a result we understand the world better. This prepares us for what's out there so we won't hesitate in a real life situation like a hunt.

Sydney drives off in her brand new sleek black 2007 BMW M6 Convertible Neiman Marcus as I wave goodbye to her. God, I love that car! The last thing I see of her is her layered dark-golden hair flowing freely in the wind as she speeds off down the road. Now I have to walk all the way to the academy. It would only take me about 30 seconds to get there with my extra speed, privilege of being a Hunter, but I need the time to think. Mainly about what I'm going to say to everyone about my abrupt disappearance. When I left I didn't have time to tell anyone but Alberta. And even then it was only because she caught me walking to the gate with a bag. It was a last minute thing. She said she'd tell everyone that I'd gone for a while and would be back soon. And seeing that Lissa has blocked me out of her head ever since Alberta told her about my little 'holiday', I'm guessing she's pissed. Most likely, I'll also get a few lectures about leaving from Dimitri, Kirova and a few others. Great...

10 minutes away from the gate, and it's 2 in the morning (Moroi time so it's like 2pm). It's chilly outside so I tug my black leather jacket harder against me. The winds blowing quietly . Then all of a sudden, my senses are on overload. Something's here... Vampire! I can sense it. Keep walking. Don't draw attention to yourself. Act natural Clary.

There's only one of them here. No problem. I walk for a while longer, waiting for the vampire to make the first move when I suddenly hear an increasing sound of leaves rustling and twigs snapping coming in my direction. A presence behind me. I can feel it. That's when my reflexes kick in. As the vampire lunges for me from behind, I quickly turn around and pull my black katana sword, hidden under my jacket, from it's sheath. I quickly check the vampire to see if I know her and I don't. She goes for my neck and... SLASH! Her head falls off her shoulders and onto the road.

Decapitation is the only way to kill a vampire. Dropping to the floor, I check her for anything useful. A habit I developed over the years on the road. Nothing. She must be a newbie. She looks young. No older than 16. What a waste. I hate it when people are turned into vampires, but I hate it even more when they are young. Why do I hate this? Because they miss out on so much more than a vampire turned at the age of 30. She probably wasn't turned that long ago either. A couple of months I reckon. How do I know this? Because her actions were clumsy. An older vampire would of waited and made sure I didn't hear them coming even though I would of known because I would of sensed it. But the vampire wouldn't know that. From my senses, I can tell there's another five on the way. They can't be further than a week away.

Every time I kill a member of a species, my senses are increased for a few hours for that particular species. They'll be here soon. But why here? Last time I checked vampires weren't bothered about Moroi and Dhampirs. Strange. Unless there here for us. But no one knows that we are here. Hopefully.

I can sense all species. I just know they are there. It's a part of my spirit abilities and only the most powerful spirit users have the ability to use it. And yes, I am a spirit user just like Lissa and Adrian, but I'm also a fire user like Christian.

There are 32 types of hunters, but only 19 are still alive. I'm a Psi-Drakon, which means I have an Elemental parent who has Spirit and Fire. In my case, it's my mum. Because I'm a Psi-Drakon I can control and ride dragons, have a natural immunity to fire and can withstand high temperatures just like a Drakon can. I can also use the ability to communicate telepathically, telekinesis, have a natural immunity to compulsion, can read auras, dream-walk, can look into the past, present and future, visions, heal and I can also overtake and control a person's mind. I can do all these because I am an extremely and incredibly powerful spirit user. And because I'm a Psi-Drakon, I can mentally control fire.

I look at the vampires body and severed head. It's a shame she was turned. She was pretty with her blonde hair that reaches up to her shoulders, green eyes and pale skin. She reminds me of Lissa. I hope she'll forgive me.

Someone will find her if I leave her here. I need to hide her. Carrying her surprisingly light body, I search for a safe place to hide her until I can sort out a more permanent solution. For about 5 minutes I search for a place until I stumble upon a cave, perfectly hidden from sight and far enough away that no one will stumble upon it accidentally. A cave! Perfect!

I look at her limp body in my arms once again before hiding her in the cave. Her mouth is still open so I can see a full set of fangs. Unlike Moroi and Strigoi, a vampires fangs are hidden above their set of normal teeth. They are retractable and deadly. While the Moroi and Strigoi just have two fangs, vampires have a whole set of them along with a set of normal teeth. I hide her body and head in the cave behind some rocks for extra cover. Now I should get back to the academy. Jogging to the gate, which is a full blown sprint for a Dhampir, I reach it and are allowed inside once they see it's me. The guardian on duty, Yuri I believe is his name, then quickly assesses me and for some reason his eyes go wide when he sees me.

"Why have you got blood on you Rose?" Blood? I look down and can see that every single one of my clothes that I'm wearing is covered in dark blood. And vampire blood at that!

Shit. What do I do? Come on Charlie, think. We both stand there staring at each other while deep in thought, frozen to the spot. I wonder what he's thinking about. I'm sure a little mind reading will help. I concentrate on Yuri's mind until I can hear his thoughts.

_What the hell happened to her? Why is she  covered in blood? Who's blood is it? I know it's not hers because she hasn't got any injuries, so who's is it? I better call Kirova. She needs to know about this. She's probably gonna flip._

What? No, he can't call Kirova. I don't want to have to explain this all to her because I'll never be able to get out of it. What am I going to do? Think Charlie. Wait... I know. I'll use compulsion on him. Yeah. I'll just compell him. Slowly I walk up to Yuri and I can also still hear his thoughts.

_Why is she walking up to me? What's with that look on her face? Did she kill someone? That must be where the blood came from. Is she gonna kill me? Oh God. No. I won't let her kill anyone else._

Kill him? He thinks I'm going to kill him? Why would I kill him? Well I don't think the fact that I am covered in blood helps. And I did just kill someone, even though it was an immortal vampire. I'd think exactly the same thing if I were in his position. Who could blame him?

I struggle to stop a giant grin spreading across my face while hearing his thoughts. I look into his eyes and he is forced to meet my gaze. He can't move now. I have him right where I want him. I focus on my words and say,

"You are going to forget this ever happened, you didn't see me here. Nothing happened. But before that you will delete all the camera footage from the past 10 minutes. You will go back to work now."

, and with that he walks away and does as I told him. I love compulsion. It helps so much. First I check that he is deleting the footage and the minute I see him doing what I told him I quickly run outside the schools grounds and into the beautiful green forest so Yuri and no one else can see me. I then quickly strip down to my black lace underwear under the cover of the green trees and put on some clean blood free clothes. I toss my blood drenched clothes into a pile and set them on fire, quickly burning them and turning them into black ash. I must be careful not to create too much smoke as it could alert someone that I'm hear and then questions will be asked. Questions I don't want to answer. Thankfully there isn't much and it's light grey so no one will notice. Then, I run back to the academy gate, slowing down the closer I get. Don't want to explain why I can run so much faster than the average dhampir now do I. Yuri notices me coming down and opens the gate to allow me in for the second time today. But he doesn't know that. Or remembers.

"Rose, you're back. Where have you been?" He says with a friendly smile. Good, he doesn't remember anything. I always liked Yuri. He wasn't like other guardians. He's easier to talk to and is fun to hang out with. And he also would get me out of trouble by covering for me whenever he needed to. And that happened quite often.

"I was in New York. An old friend had some problems that she needed help with." Technically it's the truth. Sydney is a friend and she did need my help. I just didn't tell him what help she needed.

"Well, it's good to see you again. I'm surprised Alberta let you go for a whole week." Yeah, so am I. I'll have to find out why later.

"Yeah, me too."

"Right, well I've got to get back to work."

"Ok. See you later Yuri."

"Bye Rose." Walking off into the direction of Alberta's office, I fumble in my bag for the paperwork which will, hopefully, allow me to get away with being gone a whole week. Rose. I never have got used to people calling me that. Everyone who knows who I really am call me by my real name Clary or by my nickname Charlie. Only when there's no Dhampirs or Moroi around that is. People only ever call me Clary when it's serious anyway. I prefer Rose to my real middle name, Rosemarie. Well actually I prefer Roza, Dimitri's nickname for me. Every time I hear him say it, his voice is filled with so much affection and love. Just hearing him say that name makes me weak in the knees.

Arriving outside Alberta's office, I knock on the large wooden door. No answer. I try to open it only to find that it's locked. Great. Just fucking great. Where is she? Where should I go? Maybe I should try her dorm.

Quickly, I arrive at the guardian's dorms. I can sense which one is Alberta's. Walking down the hallway quietly, I walk up to her door and knock three times. Knock, knock, knock.

"Wait a minute!" I hear her shouting on the other side. She opens the door, all ready for work as a guardian, dressed in black and white, the guardians uniform. When she notices it's me, she pulls me inside and hugs me.

"Rose, you're back. Finally." She says while laughing.

"Hey Alberta." I love Alberta. She's been like a mother to me ever since I got here.

"Where have you been?" She steps aside and ushers me into one of her comfortable chairs. And when I say comfortable, I mean comfortable. Sitting in this chair feels like heaven. It's so soft, I could just sink into it.

"New York."

"Well it's good you're back. The others aren't happy you left by the way." Yeah. I thought they wouldn't be.

"Yeah, I know. With the bond and all." I saw that they weren't happy when I got pulled into Lissa's head when Alberta told them I had left for a while.

"Yeah well, because of your little 'holiday' I have had everybody barking down my ear all week trying to find out where you went."

"When you mean everyone, who exactly do you mean?" I say anxiously. Please don't say Kirova, I don't want to deal with her just yet.

"Well, there was Headmistress Kirova," I sigh loudly at that and Alberta smiles at me affectionately. "And Princess Vasilisa, Christian Ozera, Adrian Ivashkov, Mason Ashford, you know the ones." I'm not surprised. I knew they'd be pissed.

"But the one I didn't expect was Belikov. He has been the worst by far." Wait, Dimitri...

"Why what did he do?"

"What didn't he do?" What the hell has happened. This doesn't sound like Dimitri to me. Dimitri is controlled and careful.

"The second he found out you had left, he came right up to me and demanded me to tell him where you were. And when I wouldn't tell him he went to Kirova and did the same thing. He even went as far as to threaten some novices." What? That doesn't sound like something Dimitri would do at all.

"He did what? Who did he threaten?"

"Four novices. I think they were Eddie Castille, Shane Hathaway, Jacob Black and Tyler Black. He said that they knew something because they weren't worried at all when they found out you left. They knew didn't they?"

"Yes." They must of figured it out when I left seeing as my demonology books were missing from my room. Only the other Hunters and Elementals in the school know where they are.

"Yeah, well, Belikov threatened them so they would tell him where you were once they said they knew where you were but they didn't back down. So he lunged for Eddie but he simply blocked him like it was nothing." I can tell Alberta is impressed. Showing off your Hunter skills are we Eddie? He's going to get caught if he's not careful. But I do hope someone recorded it. I'm sure all the novices found it hilarious.

"We all had to restrain him but he just fought us off. But the four novices he threatened just took him down easily. Then we sent him away for a bit. After that, he then broke in to my office and stole your file to find out where you'd been. But then when he read your file and found out that I didn't know where you were, all hell broke loose. He came up to me trying to attack me at the fact I had let you go without knowing where you were going." Why would he do that? He's making it obvious. I thought we couldn't be together. Why would he show to everyone that our relationship is obviously more than a student-teacher relationship?

"Then what?" I can't help but ask. I need to know.

"Well he's been in his dorm for the past two days. We have sort of locked him up there but I know he's gotten out a few times and went to your dorm room for some reason." She knows, everyone knows. Crap. He'll lose his job over this. I can't let that happen to him. What does Alberta think? I'll just read her mind. I love being able to do this.

_It's obvious that he loves her. And that she loves him. But I'll keep it a secret for Rose. That's why no one knows about his little escapes._

She hasn't told anyone. Maybe he won't lose his job. Or get thrown into prison for having a relationship with a minor and his student.

"Everybody has been trying to phone you for days. Why haven't you answered?" Her tone becomes serious now.

"I broke my phone." I say with a hint of annoyance in my tone. And I did break it. A fucking cab ran over it when I dropped it.

"Of course you did." She says whilst sighing with a smile on her face. "Kirova wants to see you by the way."

"When?" I say with an annoyed tone at the bitch, Kirova. Can't she let me have some time first. She probably wants to see me straight away doesn't she.

"Now." Of course she does. Just as I thought. "But I'll say that you can see her in the morning. Right now you should get some rest." Yes. Some sleep at last.

"Thank you." I say with a smile. She pushes me out and I go straight to my dorm. Wanting to fall asleep in the familiarity of my hard and uncomfortable but soothing bed. I walk up to my dorm room slowly. Tiredness catching up with me. As a hunter the most I need is 4 hours of sleep but I have barely had that. All we have been doing is hunting. I'm fighting the urge to fall asleep right now on the floor but I'd prefer my bed. Slowly, I walk up to the door and the tiredness goes. Adrenalin going through me as I sense a dhampir behind my door. Who is in my dorm? But the second I think that, I know the answer... Dimitri... Alberta had told me he'd been escaping to my dorm. I excitedly open up the door and the scene in front of me melts my heart. Dimitri lying in my bed sleeping, only in his boxers. His other clothes on top of my chair. Holding a picture of me to his muscular chest. He looks so innocent like that and also incredibly sexy.

"Roza." That name again. Oh how I love that name. Shame it's not mine. I decide to wake him up seeing as he's been so worried about me being gone.

"Dimitri." I slowly shake his shoulder. He turns slowly opening his chocolate brown eyes. When he realises who it is that woke him up he pulls me down to him and kisses me passionately. I respond immediately. His lips are so soft against mine. The kiss sends electricity and warmth all the way through my body. He quickly changes the kiss into one of urgency. Pouring all our unspoken emotions into that one action. Love for one another, need, lust, everything. His hands quickly move up and down my body possessively.

"Oh Roza." He moans against me as I bite down on his bottom lip lightly. That name brings me out of my haze. He called me Roza. I love that name so much. But every time he says it, I'm just reminded that he doesn't know who I really am. That Rose Hathaway, the girl he loves, doesn't really exist. If he knew the truth about me he wouldn't love me. I'm sure of it. How can he? He's a dhampir and I'm a Hunter. His kind hunts mine down and kill us. We could never be together. I know that, but he doesn't. Which means I'm the one that has to stop this.

"We can't do this." I say to him while pulling back. The look on his face when I say those words nearly kills me.

"What, why not?" His voice filled with pain and sadness.

"You know why not Dimitri." I need him to understand. I can't tell him the truth.

"I don't care about that anymore. You being gone has made me realise that I never want to give you up and I'll do anything to get you to stay with me. And I know I don't deserve it after how I've treated you, but Roza I love you." He loves me. And I love him. But it's because I love him that I have to do this.

"Dimitri, we can't be together."

"Why?"

"WHY! Because we can't be together. You're my teacher. If people found out about us they'd arrest you. And we are both going to be Lissa's guardian. We have to be able to focus on her and not each other. If she dies because we were to busy saving each other, I'd never forgive myself." I say with tears in my eyes. It breaks my heart knowing I can't be with him. And if Lissa is hurt because of our love for each other I don't know what I'd do. Even though I won't be here after graduation to be her guardian.

"That won't happen." He pleads with me to change my mind.

"Yes it will. You know it will."

"So what if it does? It doesn't matter if we're not together. I will always protect you."

"Dimitri, no. You should go."

"Wait, Roza, listen to me."

"No.."

"Roza, I love you."

"Well, I don't love you!" I had to say it. It was the only way I could think of to get him to stop.

The second those words come out of my mouth, his whole expression changed. All of his emotions poured out then and there. Tears were falling down his cheeks uncontrollably but he stayed silent. He didn't say anything but he didn't need to. His eyes told me everything. I can't see him like this. My strong Dimitri. Turned into this because of me. I've broken his heart.

"You should go." Still looking into my eyes looking for a sign of hope. I hide my feelings from him. What is he thinking? Maybe I should check. NO! If I do that I'll end up taking it back. But my curiosity gets the better of me.

_She doesn't love me. This is all my fault. I pushed her away once too many and this is the result. Now, she doesn't love me. What am I going to do? She is everything to me, she's my life. The one thing I care about more than anything. I'd die for her._

That's it. I can't listen to his thoughts any longer. Building up the only control I have left, I tell him to leave. And he does. Slowly. Putting on his clothes because he fell asleep in his underwear, he leaves my room without even looking at me. Or maybe he did. I just didn't have the nerve to look his way because I knew I would see his aura and I would see all the heartbreak and pain he was feeling. And I knew that if I saw that I would take it all back.

This is how it has to be. We can't be together. We are supposed to be enemies but he doesn't know that. But I'll have to see him all the time. Especially in our training sessions. What am I going to do?


	3. Chapter 2-The Meeting with Kirova

**Chapter 2-The meeting with Kirova**

Waking up to the sound of my ringtone, I mindlessly search for my new gleaming white iphone 5s, courtesy of Sydney because I broke my other one, in the dark. I don't even bother to check the caller id.

"Hello?" You can tell I've just woken up. My voice is laced with tiredness and fatigue.

"Meet us in the usual place in five." And with that the person hangs up. But I know who it was. Eddie. He along with the others will probably want to know how mine and Sydney's little trip went. I didn't have time to talk to them except for the odd phonecall, that I answered, and three telepathic messages, one for my new number which only they, Sydney, Bobby , my Dad and my brothers know at the moment. The other two messages were for Lissa. To see if she was ok and everything was going fine without me and not going to hell. I hadn't got much back on Lissa. Just vague answers like she's fine and it'll be alright. I wonder what's going on. I'll ask later.

Rushing, I get changed to meet the others. Putting on my black tank top and blue ripped jeans , along with my black canvases and black leather jacket. I run to meet the guys, remembering to bring my katana sword. Just in case there's another vampire. I'll have to tell them of my new discovery. That's gonna shock them. Walking through the grounds of the school, I tread quietly, using my hunter skills not to get caught and run the rest as fast as I can, not even appearing on any of the cameras. Luckily… I slow down to a walking pace when I reach deep enough into the woods that surround the school. I take my time here. I feel at peace with nature. Because of my heightened senses I can see, hear, feel, smell and taste much more than a dhampir or a moroi or a human. I can feel the wind blowing against me softly and can feel it tickling my skin ever so lightly. I can see the way the leaves move in the wind like green flags off the trees branches. Hear the animals crawling around in the grass within miles around me like an orchestra of sounds coming from every direction. I can smell the forest with its animals and plants, it's the smell of nature itself. It's amazing.

After a minute or two I reach the place where we are all meeting. The lake. Big and deep with rocks that are high enough to properly jump off as well as having a flat ground part on the west side of the lake. It's beautiful. Surrounded by greenery. Being here always reminds me of the beauty of our world. We always meet at the lake. It's the only place where we can be ourselves. It's far enough away from the school and outside of the wards so no-one will know we are here. Also we can get here and back fast enough for no-one to notice we're gone. The second I get there I am bombarded with a large black scaly creature. The creature pounces on me and I fall down laughing.

"Hey Toothless. Miss me already." Toothless is my dragon. He's a Night-fury. One of the last of his kind. We haven't seen another Night-fury in years. They are believed to be extinct except for Toothless. As a Psi-Drakon, I can control dragons and ride them. I first met Toothless when I was 5 and he was just a baby himself at the time. He had gotten lost and ended up being captured by a demon. I don't know why. I never thought about it. My Dad had found him and brought him back to the motel we were staying at after he had exorcised the demon that had Toothless and sent it back to hell. The second I layed my eyes on him I knew we would be best friends. It was an instant connection. And here we are, 12 years later, a dragon and his dragonrider. With a bond that goes so deep into the foundations of our own souls. It's been about 6 hours seen I last saw him seeing as he came with us to New York. We hid him in the institute, a building where Hunters and Elementals can go and stay in New York, during the day and during the night he came with Sydney and I to do some hunting.

He nods his head for yes and lowly growls in a playful way to me. He gets off me for me only to be bombarded by the others.

"Guys, can't breathe here." I joke. They all pull back laughing. All 6 of them with giant smiles on their face which mirror mine. I've missed these guys so much.

"So, how was New York?" Emily asks her pale blue eyes showing how curious she was to me. Emily Hawthorne is a water Elemental who is here with me and the others to uncover the truth behind this war. She is posing as a Water using Moroi. We have been best friends ever since we were babies. Being trained together since we were born, we've basically known each other our whole lives. Same goes for the others.

"It was great." I answer truthfully. It was. I loved being able to be who I am. Something I can't do very often because I'm here at the academy.

"What were you doing?" Both Jacob and Tyler answer at the exact same moment. They are both Lycanthropes which means they have an Elemental parent who has Earth. As Lycanthropes they can turn into any animal they want, as well as heal themselves from certain injuries, have a natural immunity to compulsion and can communicate with animals. They are also both twins, but not identical seeing as Tyler is shorter by an inch or two and has light brown hair while Jacob has black hair, and the oldest out of the 7 of us. They are both training as dhampir novices like Eddie, Shane and I.

"Oh, just hunting some demons and a few strigoi, along with a trail to a vampire coven but we lost that lead." I say casually, which it is for us. This is life for us and we wouldn't have it any other way.

"Well, aren't you lucky? Why did you get to go and we didn't then?" Says Shane. Shane is my cousin and you can tell as we both have the dark brown hair that most people in our family have including our dads. Also, he is a Draphim seeing as his mum was an Elemental with Fire and Air. Draphim's have the abilities of a Drakon so they can control dragons just like I can but only airtypes seeing as they have air in them. They also have a natural immunity to fire and can withstand high temperatures like a Drakon can but they also have the abilities of a Seraphim who can control air, have a natural immunity to possession by demons, are able to communicate with birds and have large wings that they can hide when they need to but because they also have fire in them their wings aren't like the wings of an angel in a film like they are for Seraphim but more dragon-like because of the Drakon abilities. His dad and my dad are brothers meaning both have the surname Winchester but we have to use the surname Hathaway here because our real surname could lead people to us seeing as we are all wanted by the FBI. We just keep being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The others are fine seeing as their records are clean, sort of. I blame those cases the alchemists give us. There what causes this, but they needed to be done.

"I got to go because they wanted to check if we could get away with being gone away from the academy so next time we can all go." And cue Em's screams. "Christ Emily. Louder why don't you? I don't think the academy heard you enough." Everyone laughs at that. That's how we are together. Laid back and relaxed. I can't be like this with anyone else. Not entirely. I always have this feeling that something isn't right. I think it's guilt because I can't tell them the truth. Even though I want to.

"So we get to go too next time?"

"Yeah, but it'll just be us and maybe Sydney. We'll just be hunting and doing the usual stuff."

"When's the next time, Charlie?" Scott asks. Scott Michaels, like Emily, is an Elemental but he has Earth and Fire and seeing as Fire is his strongest element, he poses as a Fire using Moroi because Moroi don't have all elements after they have specialized.

"Probably in a week, but it will only be for the weekend."

"Awesome!" Eddie shouts whilst pumping his fist in the air. Eddie is one of my closest friends here seeing as I don't get to hang out with Emily as she's busy infiltrating the Moroi with Scott. He's also a Seraphim which means he can control air, can communicate with birds, has a natural immunity to possession by demons and has large angel-like wings.

We talk a while more, just catching up. They tell me what I've missed and tell me everything about the fight between Dimitri and the guys. And as I expected someone recorded it so I got to see the whole thing. Dimitri. My words to him last night or two hours ago seeing as I was woken in the middle of my much needed sleep, still haunt me. I wouldn't blame him if he doesn't forgive me and hates me. Hell, I hate me.

I told the guys what happened between me and Dimitri seeing as they knew I had feelings for him and vice versa. They all noticed pretty quickly. Seeing as they know me so well and are my best friends, why wouldn't they? They were pretty accepting of it and thankfully didn't tell anyone. While telling them what happened I broke down into tears and Emily came straight to my side and hugged me while Toothless rubbed his head on my shoulder on the side opposite to Emily. After I had finished saying everything all the guys came up to me and all 7 of us and Toothless of course, were all tangled up in a giant hug. They know I don't show this much emotion often and that it's rare for me to even show my true emotions so they knew how much of a big deal this was to me.

I calmed down after a few minutes and everyone went back to their seats on the floor in a circle except for Emily and Toothless who stayed by my side like glue. Now's the time to tell them of my little encounter with a vampire just outside the wards of St Vladimir's.

"Guys, I should of probably told you this earlier but while I was walking down to the gates of the school I encountered a vampire just outside the schools wards."

"What?" They all shouted together. This was a big deal for us. We all knew that vampires didn't go near Moroi or dhampirs as they couldn't stand their blood. I looked to Toothless who now had his head in my lap looking at me with a questioning look in his big pale green eyes.

"Yeah, don't worry I killed it and I hid the body in a cave not far from here so I could get rid of the body properly soon. But…" I said it reluctantly. One vampire shouldn't of happened, but another 5 on their way, impossible.

"What do you mean but?" Scott says with a shocked expression. Probably still reeling about the first vampire.

"You all know that when I kill a certain species, that my senses are heightened for that species for a while…" They all nod, urging me to go ahead. "Well I sensed another five on their way." Looking at everyone's faces I can tell they are all shocked as well as their auras which tell me the exact same thing. Everyone is speechless. I decide to go on.

"They'll be here within a week." Still nothing. They are all quiet. That's never happened before. After a few minutes of silence Tyler starts to talk.

"That's not possible. Vampires stay away from the Moroi and dhampirs. They always have."

"Follow me." I get up and they all follow with me and Toothless in the lead. I decide to lead them to the cave where I hid her body. A minute later, because we used our extra speed, we arrive at the cave and I go in while the others all stay outside, not daring to come in and see it. I come back out of the cave with the vampires body in my arms and her head laying on top of it. Slowly, I lay her on the floor in front of them. Eddie goes straight to her head and opens her mouth slowly, checking for fangs. He nearly drops her head in shock.

"Clary's right. It's a vampire." He called me Clary. That just shows how serious this is.

"Can they pass the wards?" I have no idea. It wouldn't be a big deal because there is only five, which we can all handle easily, but if someone was in the wrong place at the wrong time, people could die. Vampires might not be able to drink Moroi or dhampir blood but they'll kill them all the same. And if that happens we all know that there is a chance our cover could be blown.

"I don't know. But you realize what this means right?" I say and they do. I can see in their eyes that they have just realized the same thing as I have.

"We need to find out if they can pass the wards. If not, then this is simple. But if they can, then this just got a hell of a lot more complicated." Jacob says. He's right. We need to know. And fast.

"You guys check with all the Hunters and Elementals to see if they know if a vampire can cross a Moroi ward. I'll check if there is anything helpful in my books after I talk to Kirova."

"Ok, we should go now. Start as soon as we can." Eddie says.

"Yes, we should." I tell them. And with that we all run as fast as we can to our dorms. Being careful not to get caught.

When I finally reach my dorm, I realise I only have 10 minutes until Alberta is coming to get me because Kirova thought I should have an escort just in case I try to 'run away' again. Quickly I make myself presentable seeing as I have dirt on my jeans from sitting on the ground in the floor.

Knock, Knock, Knock. Alberta must be here now. I open the door and see her standing there, with a sorry look in her face. Most likely because of Kirova's stupid insecurities about me leaving.

"We should go. She wants to see you."

"Ok." We walk in comfortable silence all the way to Kirova's office. Once outside her door, Alberta starts to knock before being interrupted with her fist in mid-air by the door opening in front of us revealing Guardian Stan Alto or Stanny Boy as I like to call him.

"Guardian Petrov. Hathaway, isn't it a treat for you to grace us with your presence?" He says with a smirk. He knows something. What is it?

_Oh this is going to be fun. By the end of this, Rose Hathaway will be putty in the hands of every teacher. I'm going to make her pay for all the trouble she has caused. This is going to be fun._

"You may enter Miss Hathaway." Kirova says clearly annoyed and mad. Alberta and I walk into the room and I try not to break down on the spot when I see him here. Of course he's going to be here. He's my mentor. I quickly turn my eyes to look at him and I can see straight into his eyes. His heartbroken, pain filled eyes. It was only a second until he put his mask on but it wasn't good enough. I could tell he was depressed just by his expression and I'm sure everyone else could too. It wasn't well hidden.

"Rose Hathaway. I'm gonna start this by asking a question everyone wants to know." Here we go. "Where were you?"

"In New York." I decide not to elaborate my reasons any further. They'll have to ask which I know is already starting to annoy Alto. His aura says it all. Plus he's sending me super evil glares. Well not super evil glares, I do hunt demons, they are much more evil than Stan Alto.

"And why were you in New York?"

"Because an old friend needed help."

"Help with what?" That's when I froze. Excuse. I need an excuse and now.

"Family problems. They have been having troubles at home so she called me to help get her away from it for a while." Phew. Quick thinking Clary.

"And who is this person?"

"My friend Sydney Sage."

"Give me your phone so she can verify this." Shit.

"Ok." I pull out my brand new phone and while I search for Sydney's number. I quickly send her a psychic message.

_Sydney. I need you to answer your phone in a second and tell Kirova that I was with you over the last week. Tell her it was family problems and that I helped you get away for a while._

_Sure._ She thought. Well, that's sorted. Easy. I hand Kirova my phone and she immediately calls Sydney. 

"Hello is this Sydney Sage?" Kirova asks like she doesn't believe a word of what I said.

"Yes. Who are you and why have you got Rose's phone?" Genius Sydney. Act like you didn't expect it. Thank God she remembered to call me Rose.

"I am Headmistress Kirova. The head teacher at Miss Hathaway's school. I was just wondering if you could confirm if Rose was indeed with you the past week?"

"Yes. She was with me. I had some family problems and Rose helped me." Ha! Take that Kirova. Told you.

"Ok. Just checking. Thank you. Good-bye."

"Bye." And she hangs up.

"Believe me now?"

" Have you got her parents number?" What? I was not expecting that? What am I going to do now? It's not like I can tell them the truth. What would I say? Actually I was in New York hunting demons and sending them back to hell. If I said that, they'd send me to a psychiatric hospital. Wait I have just the idea...

_Bobby, I need you to bail me out of me missing school for the week. Say you are Sydney's dad and that she should mind her own business seeing as we said it was family problems._

_Why do you always involve me?_

_Because you're the best_. _Thanks Bobby_. From knowing Bobby since I was a kid, I knew he would be rolling his eyes and trying hard not to laugh right now. I know I can always count on Bobby. I hand her the phone and she dials Bobby's number but not before putting it on speaker. Surely, just to humiliate me. And I know that's what everyone else's thoughts are too.

"Yes?" Bobby says immediately.

"Is this Mr Sage?"

"No, it's King Kong. What do you want?" Classic Bobby. Haha! That'll get on Kirova's nerves.

"I was wondering if you could tell me if Rose Hathaway was with you this past week?" Prepare to look stupid bitch. I have thought of everything... a minute ago.

"Yeah, she was with me. What's it to you?" And he shoots and scores. I can tell by Kirova's face that she is disgusted by Bobby's words and tone of voice and that she isn't happy.

"I was just wondering. I'm sorry for wast…" But Bobby hangs up before she finishes. Playing the dickhead of a Dad down to a tee. "Well, it seems that your whereabouts can be confirmed but as punishment for not telling anyone about your..."

"I told Alberta." I say matter-of-factly. Pissed off Kirova. Check. Her face is nearly as red as the blood she drinks.

"Yes, but then you went off without warning. So as punishment, you will not be allowed to go out of your dorm and may only stay out for school work." Is that it? I was sure it would be worse than that after reading Stan's thoughts.

"Fine." I say and everyone knows it doesn't bother me.

"But the consequences of your actions have been discussed by the guardians here and at court..." Wait, court? "And they all have decided that if you don't improve on your behaviour and everything else, meaning your grades, you will not be assigned to Princess Dragomir."

"WHAT? YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" I scream. This isn't fair. They can't do this.

"Hathaway, the princess needs a capable guardian to protect her." Oh. Now I get what he meant by me doing whatever they say. They all know that I want to be Lissa's guardian and will do anything it takes to be her guardian. Well, what they don't know is that I was never going to be her guardian anyway so jokes on them.

"Fuck off, Alto. You can't do this. I won't let you. Lissa won't let you."

"The princess has already agreed to it. She needs a guardian who won't leave with no notice. Someone who can protect her. If you don't improve, then that guardian won't be you." Stan says with a smug face. I'm trying really hard not to hit his face. I'd be doing him a favour. Trust me. Lissa has agreed to this. What the hell? No. She can't of done. She wouldn't. I don't believe it.

"Guardian Belikov will escort you out now." Great. Just what I need.

Dimitri gestures for me to go outside with him but I just walk away and slam the door as hard as I can, literally making it fall off its hinges. Everyone is standing there still at my sudden outburst. I storm off outside with Dimitri in tow looking nervous and wary.

"Did Lissa really agree to this?" I ask him. And he seems shocked. I wonder why?

_She's talking to me. Why? She said she didn't love me. Breaking my heart into millions of pieces and then she acts like it didn't happen. She changed once she got back from New York. What happened to her? What happened to my Roza?_

Oh that's why. I didn't think. I was to wrapped up in my own problems to think about him. I want to tell him the truth so much. To tell him that I love him with everything I have, but I can't. And it kills me knowing that.

"Yes." That's all he says. He won't even look me in the eye. I don't blame him. This is a mess.

"Roza, don't worry. You'll be Lissa's guardian. I'll make sure of it." Finally he looks me in the eye, and I can see all of his love for me. I may of broken his heart but he still loves me. How?

"It doesn't matter anymore. I won't be her guardian. We all know it." Not the truth. I may be flunking here but that's because I don't want them to expect anything from me. In reality, I'm a certified genius being able to speak 11 languages including English, French, German, Italian, Greek, Latin, Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Swedish and Turkish, a genius in maths and science and nearly everything else. But, if I show them that, then they'll expect it and here I have to be someone else so that's what I do. That's what we all do. Anyway. I won't be here to be her guardian after graduation. All 7 of us are supposed to leave then. This whole thing is supposed to be over.

"Yes you will. I'll help you." He says to me looking straight into my eyes. I was so mesmerized by his gorgeous chocolate brown eyes that I didn't realize how close we'd gotten or the fact that his hand was on my cheek and I had accidentally leaned into it. As well as all that, he was leaning in to kiss me.

_I knew it. She does love me. I can tell by the way she looks at me. Or that she hasn't pulled away yet and that she leaned into my hand when I touched her cheek._

What? Did I just... I read his thoughts but I didn't try to. Either I'm losing control, which I don't think I am, or his emotions were so high that I just heard them. Sometimes that can happen but it usually means that the emotions that person is feeling is so strong that even a spirit user can hear them.

He leaned in to kiss me but I knew I couldn't as much as I wanted to. Stepping back. I say "We can't. What I said last night? I still mean it." That hurt him.

"No you don't." He says confidently after a second.

"What?"

"Why are you lying to me Roza? We both know that you love me, just as much as I love you." I can't deal with this. Run.

I run as fast as I can without anyone making any suspicions. Barely hearing Dimitri shouting 'Roza'. I quickly run to my dorm, opening my door to my room, shutting it thoroughly in the process. Hopefully, sooner or later, Dimitri will understand. I just would prefer it to be sooner.


	4. Chapter 3- The Revelation

**Chapter 3-The revelation**

After I reached my room after the little 'confrontation' with Dimitri, I had about an hour left until my classes would start. I went for a nice quick hot shower and quickly changed my clothes in to something more appropriate for the weather. Once I walked out of the dhampirs dorm, I am greeted by cold water hitting me in the face. After a second glance I could tell it was snow. And it was starting to snow heavily. Thank God I wore my burgundy jumper today. Walking to the gym where my first class of the day would be, I am met with a sea of smiles. The one that stuck out most was a boy with red fiery locks. Mason. After everything that happened in Spokane he has been constantly trying to make sure I'm ok the whole time. I can tell he worries but there really is no need. I've been through worse...

"Where the hell have you been?" He says laughing.

"Well. Hello, to you too Mase." I say with a large grin.

"Come here Rose." He pulls me into a large hug that I give back.

"I've missed you, Rose. Tell me everything." He says with a hint of curiosity in his aura.

"Sure." That's when the instructors tell us to get to work immediately. "Later Mase, I'll tell you later."

The instructors tell us to pair up and I immediately go to Masons side.

"I'm gonna kick your ass today Mase." I whisper in his ear.

"Sure because the last time you missed school you were pretty bad at all this when you got back. You remember that 2 year break right. With you and Lissa." He says slyly hinting at our little disappearance two years ago. I wasn't supposed to go, but something didn't feel right and I had to get Lissa out of here. She is my best friend after all. In those two years, I never stopped hunting but I would go out when Lissa was sleeping and go after a demon or two. I know. It was a bad idea. What if a strigoi came for Lissa? Well that's why I left Toothless there, hiding in the shadows, watching Lissa.

"Right, of course." We quickly get into fighting stances. The dhampir way of fighting that is. It's so bad. I mean the dhampirs are good fighters, no doubt about that, but they aren't good enough. That's why they are losing the fight against the strigoi.

Once the lesson is over, Mason lies on the floor, tired out. I don't know why. It's not like he did anything. All he did was get his ass kicked... Multiple times.

"Well, it's good to see that you haven't lost your awesome fighting skills Rose." Mason says with a smile.

"Thanks Mase, but if you don't mind me saying, it seems your skills have mysteriously disappeared." I say with a grin.

"So... where have you been?" He finally asks after a few seconds of heavy silence.

"Yeah Rose, where have you been?" Eddie says when he reaches us with a knowing look in his eyes. Like he doesn't already know.

"New York. An old friend needed help." I am so gonna get sick of telling this story to everyone today.

"Nice, well you can tell me the rest later, but first I want to know what's the plan with Lissa. She's so pissed off at you. I mean she even said she doesn't want you as her guardian anymore." Mason says sympathetically.

"Yeah I know. I'll talk to her at lunch." I'm seriously regretting not telling her anything about my trip right now. It might not have been the smartest thing to do.

"Well good luck. You're gonna need it." We all laugh at that while making our way to our next class with Stan Alto. Yay...

Stan's class was just the same as always with him acting the same way to me as he did when I first came back with Lissa. He is such a dick. Most of the novices hate him and his superior attitude. The amount of times I've been closed to punching him is too many to remember. All through class Eddie, Mason, the other novices and I are going out of our way to annoy him. Mason keeps asking about my trip to New York and every time I'd say ' I'll tell you at lunch'.

The whole lesson I could feel Dimitri's eyes burning into my back. It didn't help that I could hear his mind as well as everyone's around me. It happens sometimes. The darkness I take from Lissa has started to make me lose control over my powers at certain moments. But only my telepathy. It doesn't happen often but it's still happens. Eddie, Shane, Emily, Scott, Tyler and Jacob know about it along with my family and the Hunters and Elementals closest to me. And not forgetting the Elders council as well. They are our version of government but we get a lot more say in everything unlike the Moroi, Dhampirs and humans. They also seem to know everything. Literally...

All through class I could hear everyone's voices.

_I can't wait till lunch. I need to know what happened in New York._

God, can't Mason wait a few lessons. He's so enthusiastic just to hear about my week-long trip. But so is every other novice except for my team of course.

_I know she loves me. I just know. I know her better than anyone. Without her I don't know what I'd do. Why does she seem so distant right now? Look at me Roza._

Don't look at him. I repeat to myself. It's hard not to. Especially as I can feel the love he has for me radiating off of him.

_She thinks she can do whatever she likes because she's an amazing novice. Rose needs to be taught discipline. NOW!_

He really does hate me. Well, I can safely say the feelings mutual.

_Eddie-Clary, you lost control again, didn't you?_

What? Eddie. How does he know?

_Yeah, how did you know?_

_Eddie-I can tell. I just know you that well._

_Shane-Keep calm Clary. It'll be over soon._

Shane too. Great. Is it that obvious? Well to them it probably is.

_Jacob-If it's too much, leave the class Clary. Say you don't feel well._

_Tyler-Yeah, we'll cover for you dude. No worries._

_Thanks guys, but I'll be fine. It's not the first time._

I won't be fine. Every time this happens I feel pain all the way through my body, from head to toe. It's worst at my head but not by much. They know this as well but I won't let it get to me. I'll battle through it like I do each time. They don't usually last longer than an hour anyway.

_Eddie-Ok but if you need us, we're here._

Two lessons later and it hasn't stopped. Everywhere I go I hear their thoughts. The Moroi in the hallways. Nearly all of them thinking about the same thing when they see me.

_Oh my God Rose is back._

_Where the hell has she been?_

_She probably got pregnant and had an abortion._

_Here's the blood whore._

This is one of the reasons I hate most of the Moroi. They always believe rumours and it's annoying.

The dhampirs all thought the same thing really.

_Look Rose is back. I wonder where she went._

And that was it. They are pretty laid back with that sort of stuff. It's one of the reasons I liked them so much.

My team's auras all showed they were worried and there thoughts were the same. But Dimitri's was the worst. He was in each of my classes, even though I was sure he was assigned different classes at those times. I'd have to check into that. Someone probably moved him to keep an eye on me. His thoughts were all over the place, a mess. One minute he was trying to figure out why I had acted the way I had since our reunion, the next he was reliving what had happened earlier today, then he was thinking about how he wanted it to happen, me and him declaring our love for each other to one another and being all in love and then he went into a few M rated thoughts, if you know what I mean, and then he blames himself for everything. That it was his fault. That was the most prominent thought of them all. It was also a lie. It's not his fault... It's mine.

It started to get too much after a while. It was ten minutes to the bell when the pain became too much. I'm trying hard not too scream out in pain. As a Hunter I am highly tolerant to pain but this was something I'd never experienced before and I nearly let it overtake me. Tyler noticing my expression that I have so well hid from everyone else but him because he's right next to me asks,

"Clary, are you okay?" He says in a whisper only a Hunters ears can hear. And to prove that only we can hear the rest of my team except for Emily and Scott who are with the Moroi turn around with worried looks on their faces but quickly covered before anyone notices. If I wasn't in pain right now, I would shout at Tyler for calling me by my real name even though no one else heard.

I can't talk the pain is so strong so I answer him by putting my index finger to the side of my head to indicate that it's the voices causing this.

"Okay, look there's only a few minutes left till lunch can you hold until then?" He says worried and casting a glance at the others to let them know what's going on. Shaking my head to say yes but only slightly because just the movement is painful.

"Just wait a bit. You're strong, you'll be fine." He says trying to convince me but I can see through the obvious lie that he doesn't believe it himself.

Words. All jumbled up in my head. I can't think straight. Wait... scratch that. I can't think at all.

The school bell goes off five minutes later which to me seems like an eternity right now. I quickly get out of class and run outside, trying not to draw any attention to myself, with the others following me. I need to scream. Running at the fastest speed I can possibly manage, I arrive deep in the cold forest where I fall to the snow-covered ground and scream. When the others including Scott and Emily arrive a minute later they all are shocked to find me in so much pain. They all come to me and hold me all saying soothing words to me but I don't hear them. The pain is all there is right now. All I can concentrate on.

Suddenly, I stop. Taking control again. I gather myself up with Toothless rising with me. He must of arrived before. His big cat-like eyes portraying the grief he feels for me. He always knows how I feel. The pain is still there but is manageable now. I must of subconsciously overtaken it. The others are looking at me with confused and anxious looks in their eyes. Toothless is rubbing his head into my side and I find peace in that small gesture. Breathing calmly now, I look at the others.

"I'm okay, slightly." I say with a smile but I know it's not real.

"Hey, you can tell us the truth Clary." Emily asks with friendly affection in her voice.

"It hurt. More than anything I've ever felt. It still does but not as much. Just enough for me to take control. I don't know what happened. All I know was I couldn't hear anything or see anything and then it decreased enough for it to not effect me as much."

"But you can still hear the voices?"

"Yeah, but they are dying down slowly."

Quickly, they all hug me knowing exactly what I need. Then Toothless curls up around me, just like he always does when I'm upset or in pain.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Shane asks obviously tense from what just happened.

"No but I'm as good as I can be." I say with a genuine smile which I receive back from all of them. There is no point in me lying to them by saying everything's fine because they'd just see right through it.

"Well, we should go to the canteen. I'm starving." Says Eddie.

"As am I." I say with mock seriousness even though I am.

"Nothing new there then." Says Jacob. We all laugh at that.

Leaving after saying goodbye to Toothless who was reluctant to leave my side, we run to the canteen with Hunter speed making sure we are not seen. And thankfully we're not. Outside, everyone is throwing snowballs at each other and looking at the wonder which is snow. Reaching the canteen we all walk through the doors and are met with the whole canteen staring at me. Wow! I didn't think they'd care this much about my disappearance but I bet some rumour has got a part to play in this.

Ignoring them all I head to the lunch queue which isn't very long seeing as it has been only like five minutes since the bell when off. Funny that. I swear it felt like centuries had past with all that pain. Just after I had gotten my food, everyone's thoughts in my head had stopped. Just like that. They went from being so loud that I can't think clearly to nothing in less than a second, thankfully the pain going with it. It always surprises me when that happens. Everytime I do a little flinch that you wouldn't notice if you didn't know.

_They stopped._ I say through a psychic message to the others.

"Good." Emily says with a thankful look on her face.

"Rose! Over here.!" Shouts Mason from the other side of the canteen. He's sitting at our usual table with everyone else I have dreaded seeing for days.

I send him a smile in his direction, glad to have someone who isn't pissed at me for leaving. Walking to the table with the other six in tow, we all sit down to what's going to be a welcoming conversation... Note the sarcasm... Lissa and Adrian with furious faces. Whereas Christian and Mia look at me with slightly happy and slightly frustrated faces. Probably because of the fact that I didn't tell them I went.

"Where the hell have you been?" Lissa says almost shouting. Her jade green eyes flashing with anger. I know it's not the darkness causing this and just me and my actions. I must have really pissed her off to make her react like this.

"New York." I say reluctantly.

"New York, what the fuck were you doing in New York, Little Dhampir?" Adrian says with a angry look on his face when I know by looking at his aura he isn't angry at me, but just worried.

"Probably getting some scumbag Moroi to feed off her. You know, blood whore things." Lissa says with a look of pure hatred on her face.

Blood whore? Did I hear that right?

"What?" I say, quickly getting angry myself.

"I said, blood whore." She shouts across the canteen so loud that now everyone is watching our little exchange.

What the fuck? What's wrong with Liss? Around the table I can see that everyone is shocked by what she has said. Looking at her aura I can see hatred written right across it.

"Blood whore? How the fuck am I a fucking blood whore?" I ask quickly standing up and shouting as loud as I can.

"You are a blood whore and I'm just thankful that you won't be my guardian anymore. Who knows what would of happened with you as a guardian?" A smug look crosses her face.

"Why don't you shut your royal mouth?" Says Emily quickly coming to my side to back me up.

"And who the fuck do you think you are?" Says Liss looking at Emily. But before either of us can answer she says,

"You know what. I don't care any more. I am done with you Rose. Go and be a little bitch with someone else." And with that she walks away. Christian following her but not before saying,

"I'm sorry Rose. She'll come around soon. She's just angry. It's good that you're back. I'll talk to you later." He says with an apologetic glance.

Falling to my seat. I put my head in my hands frustrated at Lissa and everything else. Blood whore. She called me a blood whore. What is going on with her?

"Rose, are you ok?" Adrian asks me coming to sit next to me. I look up to meet his face shrouded with concern.

"I'm fine. Really." He smiles at me sympathetically.

"So what were you doing in New York, Little Dhampir?" He asks. All traces of anger gone without a trace. I smile at him. Thankful for the sudden change of topic.

"I was helping a friend get away from her family for a bit. They were having a few problems." Lying easily. They all believe it but Adrian. Thankfully he doesn't say anything though.

"What else were you doing?" Mia asks me. Excited for some gossip.

"You know. The usual. We were shopping and hanging out." It's the truth. We did shop a bit. Sydney needed more bad ass clothes for hunting.

"Really? Lucky." She says with mock jealously.

"I know. But we were mainly just hanging out." Well, if you count hunting evil supernatural creatures hanging out then, yeah.

After our lunch which was spent debating whether or not Lissa would forgive me and catching up on the latest school gossip, the others all go off to do their own thing, leaving me with Adrian on my own.

"Why were you really in New York, Rose?" Here comes the questioning.

"I told you. I was..."

"Don't lie to me Rose. Your aura is telling me you're lying and the aura never lies." He says trying to lighten the situation. Thank God he does as well. I don't think I could of taken another serious conversation today.

What do I say? I can't tell him the truth. Or can I? Can I trust Adrian?

"Rose, whatever it is you can tell me." He says like he trusts me more than anything.

"No, I can't."

"What are you Rose?" What? I was not expecting that.

"I'm a dhampir. Obviously." What is he getting at?

"You're lying. I can see it."

"No. I'm not. Have you had too much to drink, Adrian?" He looks at me like he's debating whether or not to go on.

"In every single person's aura, there is a certain colour surrounding it," Wait, what? How does he know that? Only exceptionally strong spirit users can see that." and I believe that the colour surrounding a persons aura shows what species that person is. From what I've seen, Moroi have the colour light pink, dhampirs have purple and humans have dark orange. When I first saw you, I didn't see purple like I should for a dhampir." I'm trying my hardest not to look distressed but I know that it's not working. How does he know that? Adrian is a lot smarter than people give him credit for if he can work that out.

"What did you see?" Don't say sky blue. Please, don't say sky blue.

"Sky Blue." Fuck. " At first, I didn't think much of it. I just passed it off as a symptom of the darkness you have. But then, I saw Eddie and realised he was the same. He had sky blue surrounding his aura too. And so does Shane, and Tyler, and Jacob. If you five weren't as close as you are, I probably wouldn't of thought much about it. But you five are hiding something and I have a good guess that Emily Hawthorne and Scott Michaels are in on whatever your secret is. Especially when I saw you all earlier. Laughing like best friends when I have never seen you all hang out together" Oh shit. "They have gold surrounding their aura by the way." Gold... that's the colour surrounding an Elementals aura. Hopefully he hasn't made the connection between us and the Hunters and Elementals.

_Guys, Adrian's on to us._ I say through a psychic message to my team.

Emily- _What?_

_Yeah. He's starting to figure it out. He already knows we aren't Moroi or Dhampir._

Scott _-How?_

_He says he can see it in our auras._

Shane _-Wait. Like you can?_

_Yes._

Emily _-Can he sense it like you?_

_I don't know. What should I do?_

Eddie- _The Elders._

_Good idea, I'll message Gaius._

_Gaius...?_

Gaius _-Yes, what's wrong?_

_Adrian Ivashkov knows we aren't dhampir or Moroi._

Gaius- _What? How?_

_He can see it, sky blue for Eddie, Shane, Tyler, Jacob and I, and gold for Emily and Scott._

Gaius _-He must be a powerful spirit user to do that._

_Do I tell him the truth or not?_

Gaius- _I don't know. Wait a second. I shall ask the Elder's council now._

_Okay. I'll wait_

"I haven't told anyone Rose. I won't tell anyone. You can trust me." Adrian says in a way that shows me I can, indeed, trust him. But should I risk it?

"Can I?" I need to be sure. If I tell him and it backfires... then everything is over.

"Of course." He says, nearly pleading with me to trust him.

"When I tell you. You won't trust ME. You'll want me dead." Probably. I wouldn't blame him for it either... Well, maybe a little bit.

"Why would I want that Rose? I could never want that. I love you Rose." No, you don't Adrian. Not the real me.

"You won't when you know the truth."

"What do you mean Rose?" I mean I'm the person you Moroi and Dhampirs are hunting. This situation is just great. Where the hell are the Elders? I need help!

Elder _-Can we trust him?_

"Can we trust you Adrian, like really trust you?" Please say yes.

"Yes." He says we can trust him. His aura says we can trust him. My instincts say we can trust him, but I don't want to risk it at the same time.

"You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone ever."

"I won't."

_Yes. We can._

Elder _-Tell him. If he reacts badly, compell him to forget._

_He's a spirit user and a powerful one at that. It might not work._

Elder _-Then, you may have to kill him. Unless you find another way. This is your choice Clary. But having a Moroi, and the great-grandson of the queen at that, on our side will help immensely. Your choice. Choose wisely._

_I'm gonna tell him._

Tyler _-Are you sure?_

_Yes._

Shane _-Then we are with you all the way._

Jacob _-100%._

_Thanks guys._

Emily _-Good luck, Charlie._

_Thanks Em._

"Emily and Scott are Elementals and Eddie, Shane, Jacob, Tyler and I are Hunters." Phew. I've said it. I just hope it wasn't a huge mistake.

"What?" Yep. We are going to die. He's going to tell everyone now, isn't he.

"We are Hunters and Elementals."

"Why are you here?"

"To try and stop this war."

"Why? I thought you wanted us dead." I accidentally scoff at that remark. And in comes the true idiocy of the Moroi. Always believe what they are told by their superiors.

"No. We haven't killed any of your kind in centuries." I say with a slight smile from the unbelievable situation we are in right now.

"So everything they say is a lie."

"Yes." I say anxiously. Why is he not screaming his head off? Why is he so calm?

"Those deaths. They were strigoi attacks, weren't they?" What? That was not what I expected. Maybe Adrian really is smarter than anyone gives him credit for.

"Yes."

"You aren't working with them, are you?" No. No way in hell. But he doesn't ask it like a question. More like a statement.

"Nope. The complete opposite. We hunt them down and kill them." A lot better than the dhampirs, if I do say so myself.

"Tell me everything."

"Wait. So you don't want to kill us." I'm shocked. I never expected Adrian to react like this.

"No, you may not realise this, but a few Moroi and Dhampirs don't want to kill you and don't believe you want us dead." What? This is news to us. Every Moroi or Dhampir we've come across have wanted us dead. It can't be. That's impossible.

"Really? And you probably shouldn't believe everything they told you about us in general, to be honest. It's all fake."

"Yes, really. And what do you mean?" He asks curiously.

"What do you know about us? What did they teach you?" I say wanting to hear what the Moroi and Dhampirs claim as fact.

"They say that you, the Hunters, and the Elementals are emotionless, which I can see is a lie, and that silver stakes are the only way to kill you as they have the same effect on you as Strigoi but I have seen you touch a silver stake so that's a lie. Another one it seems. The Elementals can control an element and that they use it to kill us. Apparently, you have teamed up with the Strigoi to bring the Moroi and dhampirs to extinction and have been hunting us for centuries now. 500 years ago, there was a battle where you attacked us and we won. I never believed that. If you were so powerful, how could we have won. So I'm assuming that there was no battle." He's right, slightly. How did he work all that out?

"There was, but not the same one as you were told. I'll explain later." It's complicated. Like really complicated. We don't even know the full story yet.

"Okay. So what else? Let me think. Nothing else really. Just that the Hunters and Elementals are the children of the Strigoi and how you are just mortal Strigoi. Oh and you also apparently drink blood. Let me guess. All lies."

"Every single bit." I say laughing. And I mean really laughing, like on the floor, holding my stomach, can't breathe laughing. "First things first. We aren't emotionless as you can see." He nods and laughs. "Secondly, silver stakes don't do shit to us unless you staked us through the heart but that would kill anyone. Also, you should know that it's possible for an Elemental to control either one, two, three, four or five elements."

"Wait, what?"

"Yep."

"So Elementals can control Spirit."

"Yes, a few can and so can I. But most Elementals only control one or two these days. With the population of the Elementals decreasing, so has the amount of them that can control three or more elements."

"You have spirit! How? They didn't teach us anything about Hunters using the elements in school."

"Yeah. I bet they didn't. I can also control fire by the way."

"What? Rose, that's awesome." Enthusiasm is spiking all the way through his aura now.

"Yeah. I know." I say proudly.

"What else?" He says, just wanting more information more than anything.

And then the bell rang signalling the end of lunch and the start of the rest of the lessons.

"I'll explain the rest later but right now I have lessons to get too. But I can tell you what's wrong with what you told me you were all taught. We haven't killed a Moroi or dhampir in 300 years and even then it was an accident. We don't work with the Strigoi but actively kill them instead. A lot better than the dhampirs as well, if you don't mind me saying. We don't drink blood and we aren't the children of the Strigoi but Hunters are half Elemental and half human. And the battle and everything else I promise I'll explain later."

"Okay. Thank you for trusting me Rose." He says reluctant to not ask another question.

"Thank you for letting me trust you Adrian." And with that I quickly run off. Trying not to be late for my lesson. I hope I haven't just made a huge mistake. But I don't think I have.

 


	5. Chapter 4- A Vision Shared

**Chapter 4**

Walking to the last class of the day, I try to figure out what I'm going to say to the others. They'll all ask about what went on between me and Adrian and how he took the news. I, frankly, was surprised at his reaction. I had always thought that he would scream for a guardian to come and kill me if he ever found out... but he didn't. He was calm. And it freaked me out a bit. This is the right thing. I know it is. My instincts tell me I can trust him and my instincts are never wrong. This changes everything. If what Adrian was saying about others not believing what they are told about us, then there is a chance, no matter how small, that there is a chance for our species to live together in harmony.

Walking to my last lesson today, Emily and Eddie appear by my sides. Seeing as we are all in this class, it will make it easier for me to tell them all of the news. I can tell they want to know now, but they'll have to wait. Plus it's only Slavic Art. It's not like we pay attention in this lesson.

"So... how did it go?" Eddie asks sounding very interested.

"I'll tell you in class." I say. I'm going to let them wait and I know it will annoy them.

"What? Oh come on Charlie. We need to know now!" Emily nearly shouts but stops herself in time. Thankfully no-one heard.

"Just wait." I say. I can see the annoyance in their auras.

"Ok. We'll wait but tell us one thing..." Emily asks, obviously trying to get any information.

"Fine." I'll give her that.

"Good or bad?" Can't this girl wait.

"Good." I say with a large smile on my face.

"How good?" Eddie asks. Needing to know.

"Extremely!" I'm not going to say anymore until everyone is here and we can talk safely without being overheard.

We walk into the class and the others are all waiting for us in our usual seats. The minute I sit down I am bombarded with questions from every direction.

"How was it?" From Shane.

"What did he say?" Tyler asks.

"Is it over?" Emily says. Physically cringing already for the answer.

Oh my god. Let me talk guys.

"Guys, Shut up! It went amazing. Okay?" I say nearly laughing at their expressions of surprise.

"What did he say? Tell us everything." Christ. Emily wait a sec.

"He said that he knew I wasn't dhampir. And he said that it was because I have..."

"Sky blue." We all say, knowing the answer. We are all taught about the auras and the colours when we are younger, even if we aren't spirit users.

"Yes, sky blue, in my aura. He then said that he knew Eddie, Shane, Tyler and Jacob were the same and that whatever it was I was hiding, you were too. He then said that he guessed Emily and Scott were in on it, and that his suspicions were confirmed today at lunch when he saw us acting like we had known each other our whole lives even though he has never seen us hang out together." I tell them, making sure not to miss out anything.

"What then?"

"I told him."

"And how did he take it?"

"He was shocked but not too surprised. Apparently there are other dhampirs and Moroi who don't agree with what is being done to us." I have never heard of a dhampir or a Moroi being on our side.

"Why haven't they said anything then?" Yeah. I didn't think of that. Why haven't they said anything?

"I don't know. But I do know something is going on." This is weird. Really weird.

"And..?" Shane asks prying for more information.

"And he said the usual stuff. That they are taught that we are emotionless and the children of the Strigoi. That we die from silver stakes, that we drink blood and have been teaming up with Strigoi to hunt their species down to extinction. He said they were told of a battle but that we lost. Elementals only use one element. He had no idea about Hunters having elemental magic and I'm guessing he has no idea about dragons or vampires or demons or any of that."

"What did you do?" Jacob asks.

"I laughed. Like, proper laughed. I was on the floor crying. That's how funny I found it. And after a while he started laughing as well."

"What else did you tell him?" Emily asks. Smiling at my reaction to the news.

"Just that I had Spirit and Fire and corrected all the things they were taught about." I smile remebering how he lit up at the mention of another spirit user.

"Did you tell him about the battle?" Tyler says.

"No. I ran out of time. I'm going to tell him later though." It's best if I do. He might be able to help with that. Seeing as he is close to his great-aunt, the queen of the Moroi world.

"How? You have to stay in your room unless it's for school work." Scott mentions.

"Exactly. We are all going to the library to 'study' after this lesson ends." Plus, it's not like I am going to listen to what they say.

"Okay. So we will meet Adrian there then?"

"Yep. We'll meet Adrian th... Oh shit... I forgot to tell him." Fuck. I forgot to tell him that.

"Send him a psychic message then." Oh. Good idea Scott.

"He doesn't know about that part of Spirit."

"Surprise him then." He's gonna be surprised to hear my voice in my head.

"Everyone. Pay attention now. This lesson we'll be..." The art teacher with her apron on covered in paint announces.

And that's when I blanked out. I never take in any of that art shit. It's not my thing. I just got stuck in this class when Lissa and I were brought back to the academy. I should tell Adrian about this. About everything that you can do with Spirit. He'll be ecstatic to know of all the possibilities Spirit can give you.

_Hey Adrian._

Adrian- _Holy shit. Rose! How the fuck?_ I laugh quietly at his reaction.

_Spirit..._

Adrian _-Really? Awesome. What else can you do?_ What else? What can't you do with Spirit?

_Loads of things... I'll tell you later. I'm just messaging you to say you should meet us in the library after this lesson. To... discuss... everything else._

Adrian- _Uh, yeah, sure. But haven't you got training with Belikov._ Great. Now I'll have to face him. I don't think I can. I haven't talked to him since I ran away from him this morning.

_Oh, I forgot about that. I'll message you when I'm finished and meet you there then._

Adrian _-Okay. Who's this 'us' I'm meeting in the library with you then?_

_Eddie, Shane, Jacob, Tyler, Scott and Emily._

Adrian- _Oh right. Ok._

_Good. I'll see you later then. Bye!_

Adrian- _Bye Little Hunter!_ I grin at his new nickname for me. He better not say that in front of other people though.

"He knows. After my training session with Dimitri, I'll meet you guys there." I try not to sound depressed speaking about it, but knowing them they'll know how I'm feeling before I do.

"Oh yeah, you have to train with Dimitri... are you sure it's a good thing to do that after... you know?" Emily asks. Worry clouding her aura and eyes.

"Yeah. It's better to just ignore what happened so no-one suspects anything." I say, trying to sound like it's not a big deal.

"Good idea." Eddie says.

"Can we not talk about him right now?"

They all nod in unison and don't bring it up again. Instead we talk about the conversation with Adrian later. They are all shocked at his reaction just as I am. The sound I have been dreading all lesson ever since Adrian reminded me comes. The bell. Now I have to face him. Well. I was going to have to do this sooner or later. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him. Quickly walking up to me. I forgot he was guarding my class.

"Roza. Are you coming to training?... It's just that with earlier... I didn't know if you'd come." I can feel the distraught in his aura.

"Yeah. I'm coming." I say, not even looking at him.

"Good." We walk in a comfortable silence all the way to the gym. He goes to the mats to set up while I change into my workout clothes. I walk back in to the familiar sight of Dimitri sitting with his back against the wall, reading a book about cowboys whilst listening to 80's music. It's at times like these when I really hate the fact that we can't be together. I love him with everything I have and he loves me too in exactly the same way. But this is how it has too be. He just can't know that.

He tells me to run a few laps and I run for 25 minutes with him by my side. I know I'm not running as fast as I normally do and so does he but I don't have it in me now. All day I've been running on adrenaline. First from the vampire attack, then from telling Adrian everything. And now I've ran out. I'm too tired for this. And he knows. I can see him casting me a concerned glance every few seconds but he probably knows that I'd rather train than anything else right now.

5 minutes later and we start sparring, or if you could call it sparring seeing as he took it way too easy on me. But I can't and he knows it. I'm half falling asleep right now. After 40 minutes of running and sparring, Dimitri finally speaks up looking at me with loving chocolate eyes.

"Roza, are you okay?" He asks looking at me intensely.

"Yeah, just tired." I say stifling a yawn and getting out of my fighting stance.

"How long did you sleep once you got back?" He says coming to stand in front of me, searching my face for any other signs of my exhaustion.

"2 hours." I hear him mutter something, probably in Russian, but don't pay attention to it seeing as I'm about to fall asleep in his arms.

"What? Roza. You need more sleep than that." He touches my cheek and I try not to lean into his much needed touch. "How much sleep did you get while you were away?"

"About 3 hours a day." I say truthfully.

"Roza..." He says with one hand resting on my cheek and the other stroking the dark brown hair on the top of my head. "You need sleep. Practice is finished. Go to your room and get some sleep."

"No. I told Adrian I'd meet him and the others in the library." Jealously shoots through his aura at the mention of Adrian. Same thing happens to Adrian when I mention Dimitri. I know they both love me and I love them both too. Just I love Adrian more like a brother than a lover.

"You can talk tomorrow." He says, trying to convince me to do what he says.

"No. I have to meet them there." I say, sounding adamant on my decision.

"They can wait..."

"Like when you attacked Eddie? Did he wait then?" I say interrupting him mid sentence. I had forgot about that. Now I'm pissed. I always get easily pissed off when I'm tired.

"Roza. I... I'm sorry. I was worried about you and..." He says, trying to think of the words.

"Don't try to make excuses."

"I..." He tries to talk but I just cut him off.

"Don't. I'm too tired to have this conversation right now."

And with that I quickly walk away. Brushing off his attempts to talk. Running as fast as I can with the adrenaline surge I just got, I reach my room in 2 minutes and decide to take his advice and sleep for a bit before meeting with the others. It doesn't take long until I'm fast asleep and curled up under the comfortable covers of my bed.

Half an hour later, I wake up and quickly put my hair in a ponytail and change to a blue tie dye jumper and black jeans along with my converses seeing as I didn't change from my workout clothes when I fell asleep.

Trodding through the soft snow, I send a message to the others to meet me in the library. Looking around the academy, I see snow still falling from the sky and snowmen built across the grounds of the academy. Making my way to the schools large library, I see them all sitting in a secluded corner of the library waiting for my arrival.

"You took your time." Adrian says whilst smirking.

"I was tired from everything that's happened as well as the fact that I haven't had a proper sleep in ages so I took a nap."

"So. Why don't you all start explaining everything?" He says getting straight to the point.

"Ok then. I'll start shall I?" We all nod for Emily to carry on. "Cool. Well, Scott and I are Elementals. Our kind can use one or more elements each although it's usually one or two. I am a Water Elemental." She says calmly but quickly. A habit she does when she's nervous.

"And I'm a Fire and Earth Elemental. Elementals are stronger, faster, and our reflexes are much more advanced than even a Strigoi. To tell the truth, we are just better. We, along with the Hunters, are trained to kill all manner of supernatural creatures from the age of 3." Scott explains, waiting for Adrian to say something. He'll probably be shocked at the age that we start at. Seeing as even dhampirs don't start that early and when they do start it's nowhere near the level we train at.

"You start training when your 3?" He says, whispering as loud as he can so people won't hear us.

"Both our kinds mature much faster than a Moroi, dhampir or human, but we grow at the same rate." Explains Shane.

"We just have more muscle at a younger age." Eddie says.

"And an older age." Tyler says just loud enough that we can all hear including Adrian.

"Exactly. Elementals also have heightened senses. Much more heightened than a Moroi or a dhampir. We can hear, see, feel, taste and smell much more than most species." Emily quickly says.

"Okay, but what about Spirit? Is there much Elemental Spirit users?" He says with hope covering his aura. I can see that more spirit users is a huge deal to him. If there was others he could learn more about the mysterious element. He's lucky that he now has me for that.

"No, not much. Spirit is the strongest element out of them all so our enemies will go after the spirit users any chance they get so they can kill them and because of it there isn't much left, except for Clary of course." Shit! I forgot to tell Adrian my real name. With everything going on it didn't seem important.

"Who's Clary?" He asks, confusion spreading across his face.

"You didn't tell him." They all say looking at me with an expectant look in their eyes.

"I forgot."

"Forgot what?" Adrian says getting frustrated from not knowing what we are talking about.

"My name isn't Rosemarie Hathaway. It's Clary Rosemarie Winchester. I have to use a fake name, along with Shane, because we are sort of wanted by the FBI. His name is Shane Winchester, he didn't change his first name. It's a long story and I'll explain later."

"Fine." He says accepting the fact that he won't find out now. Why is he taking this so easily? "Can you use all the elements when you're younger like the Moroi or have you always had just the elements you have now?" He asks. Full of questions isn't he.

"No, we don't control all the elements when we're younger and then specialize in an element later like the Moroi. It's random what elements we can control each. We just get what we have." Scott says.

"Right. What about the Hunters?" Adrian asks, wanting to know everything he can.

"Well, Hunters are a species but there is 32 different types of Hunter." Tyler explains.

"32? How?" Adrian says looking at us with an unbelievable look on his face. I know, it's a lot.

"The type of Hunter depends on the elements of the Elemental parent or if it's two hunters who are the parents it depends on the most popular element." Eddie starts to explain.

"So if there is a Drakon Hunter, which is the fire element Hunter, and a Dramaid Hunter, which is the fire and water element Hunter, and they have a kid, the kid will be a Drakon because both parents have fire but only one has water." I say, trying to explain.

"Woah. So Hunters can have children with other Hunters and they are not like dhampirs who can't have kids with each other?"

"Yes." Jacob says.

"Amazing. So what types are there?" Adrian says, full of enthusiasm.

Tyler quickly says. "Well, there's a lot to go through, but there's only 19 alive today."

"Why?"

"I told you that there isn't any Elementals with 4 or 5 elements right." He nods, remembering what I said earlier at lunch. " And I told you that there isn't much with 3 elements." I say trying to get him to understand.

"So because there isn't any of them, there's less Hunter types available." Shane quickly adds.

"But Hunters can have children with other hunters." He says, quickly understanding.

"Yes they can but let's say that there's an Earth Dramaid, which is the earth, fire and water type, and a mermaid," I say before I'm interrupted.

"Mermaid!?" Adrian says cutting me off. The look on his face shows he doesn't believe me. I don't blame him. If I was him and someone told me mermaids were real I'd be surprised too.

"Yes! Mermaid!" I say whilst laughing at his reaction. "There the water element Hunters. Anyway because both parents have the water elements but only one has earth and fire, the child will be a mermaid which is just water because water is the most popular. After a period of time, the amount of elements in the Hunters gene pool will go down if there isn't more Elementals with 3 or more elements having Hunter children."

"Ok then. But can you get all the Hunter types with one or two elements?" He asks, taking in everything we say.

"Yes." Shane says.

"And how many of them is there?" He says, genuinely interested.

"Well, there's 5 elements, so them on there own would be 5 different types and there's 10 double element types, which means two elements. So from one or two elements there's 15 different types." Scott explains.

"What about the other 4?"

"There's the non-element Hunter. There the ones that don't inherit any elemental abilities but they do get extra strength, speed, reflexes and heightened senses. Like dhampirs but they are just like Elementals just without the elements. Then there's a few Earth Draphim left, which is the earth, fire and air type, the Spirit bird-shifters, which is Spirit, air and Earth, and the Water Draphim, which is water, fire and air." Emily adds.

"And what are you? I know Rose or Clary as your real name is," he says with a smile crossing his face and his green eyes sparkling with joy at being one of the only few here to know my secrets. " has Spirit and Fire, but what are you?" He says whilst probably wondering about all the different possibilities of what we could be.

"Well, I'm a Psi-Drakon, Eddie's a Seraphim, Shane's a Draphim and Jacob and Tyler are Lycanthropes. Each Hunter type also has different abilities because of the elements they get." I say.

"Different abilities? What does that mean?" He asks, confused.

"It means we can do extra stuff as well as being able to control some of the elements. Probably because of the human genes we have."

"Like what?"

"Everyone out! Now! Library's closed!" The old librarian in her perfect posture shouts to all the students in the room. We all follow the herd of students out the doors quickly.

"Well, we better go." Emily says.

"Yeah, good idea." Scott adds.

"But you didn't tell me everything. There's still so much more." Adrian is really interested. Who would of known?

"I have an idea. You guys go and Charlie and I will explain everything to Adrian in his room." Eddie suggests.

_Charlie?_ I quickly hear Adrian think. So I tell him that Charlie is my nickname and he nods in understanding and smiles at the thought.

"Ok. But how will you get there? There's a curfew remember." Shane mentions.

"We'll sneak out. It's not like it's the first time." Eddie replies.

"Right. I should of guessed. That was a stupid thing to ask." Shane, shaking his head at the obvious solution to what we are going to do.

After that we all say our goodbyes. I tell Adrian and Eddie to wait half an hour before we leave for Adrian's room so we can make sure the coast is clear so we won't get caught. Eddie and I make our way to the dhampir dorms while Adrian goes to the guest housing and we separate to go to our own rooms for a while. I spent my time by phoning Sydney to check how she was doing and to inform her about the vampire I encountered earlier. With everything that happened today, I haven't given the situation much thought.

"Near the vamps and the dhamps?" 'Vamps and dhamps' is the nickname given to the Moroi and dhampirs by everybody involved in our world.

"Yes and it's only about a week until the rest of them reach the academy as well. I guess that the hunting trip we are all supposed to be going on in a week is now canceled." I say trying to lighten the situation.

"I think so too. Ok. I'll check our records to see if we can track them down and I'll inform the Elders and my superiors." Sydney says. Getting straight to business is just how she is.

"Thanks Sydney."

No problem Charlie. See ya."

"Bye Syd!" I say before hanging up.

After half an hour had passed I met Eddie outside Adrian's building, just underneath his window.

"You took your time." He says.

"Talking to Sydney about the vampires." I say, not wanting to talk about it right now.

"Oh." He says, puzzled at why the vampires would be coming close to the Moroi and dhampirs.

In silence, we climb the 3 floors to his window and knock, signalling for him to open it.

"Are we going to tell him about the vampires?" Eddie asks once we see Adrian making his way to the window with a glass of bourbon in his hand.

"I don't see why not. He has a right to know if vampires are coming to the academy." I say just as Adrian opens the window, undoubtedly hearing my little remark.

"Vampires!?" He says. Confusion in his aura.

"Yeah, vampires." I say casually. Vampires aren't a big deal. It's the reason they are here for is what is causing us to worry.

"Explain." He says whilst stepping to the side of the window to let us through.

Once we are through, Eddie closes the window and says "Charlie, you explain."

"Okay. When I came back this morning, a vampire attacked me. Then I cut her head off." I say quickly. It isn't the first time I've cut someone's head off. I have killed hundreds of vampires as well as Strigoi. Beheading is how I killed those two Strigoi in Spokane a few months ago.

"Wait, there was a Strigoi outside the academy? We have to tell the guardians." He says whilst falling down onto the couch. He looks at us urging us to say more. He's scared. All Moroi and even dhampirs get scared when Strigoi are mentioned. They may not admit to it, but it is all over there aura.

"No. Not Strigoi. Vampire. There's 3 types of vampires. Moroi, Strigoi and then just vampires. They can walk in the sun because it doesn't burn them like the stories say but instead just irritates them. Also, they are immortal and also have a full set of fangs that retract from above the normal teeth. And I mean a full set of 32 fangs. Beheading them is the only way to kill them but the blood of a recently dead person will weaken them for a while as well." I say trying not to forget anything.

"Just give me a few minutes. I need to take this all in." Just wait till you hear about the demons and everything else. Then you'll be freaking out. After a few minutes of silence, Adrian finally says 'carry on'.

"I can sense what species are around me. It's an ability cause by Spirit and only the most powerful spirit users have this."

"Do I?" He asks, fascination written across his face just at the mention of Spirit.

"Possibly. If you practiced. You are already a strong spirit user Adrian. Stronger than most."

"How do you know?" He asks. He doesn't believe me.

"Only the strongest spirit users can see what species someone is from an aura." He smiles and whispers ' at least there's something I'm good at.' so low that he thinks we can't hear but with our heightened senses we easily catch it. He thinks so low of himself. Why? He is a strong spirit user and with my help he can be even stronger.

"Don't be so hard on yourself Adrian. You're a great guy." I say to him which surprises him probably because he didn't think we heard. He gives me a warm and friendly smile and urges us to go on.

"When I kill a member of a species, my senses for that certain species are heightened for a while. When it happens I can sense them from a much further area. When I killed the vampire, I sensed another 5 on the way here."

"Ok then." He says casually. Why is he acting casual at this?

"No Adrian. Not ok." Eddie tries explaining.

"But you guys are bad ass hunters. Surely seven of you can take on 5 vampires." He's right.

"One of us could easily take down 7 vampires. It's just that they are coming here and if someone was in the wrong place at the wrong time... people could die. Plus, vampires don't usually come anywhere near Moroi or dhampirs." Eddie says trying to express how serious this situation is.

"Why? Are they scared of us?"

"No. They don't like the taste of your blood. They despise it." I say.

"Oh. So what are you going to do?" What are we going to do?

"We have people on the outside trying to catch them before they get here but it won't work, they'll be here in a week." I says.

"How do you know?"

"Instincts. I always trust my instincts." I say to Adrian, confidence written across all my features. I always trust my instincts. They have never proved me wrong in the past.

"Right then. So, tell me about your abilities?" So that's how the rest of the night went. Eddie explained the abilities of the rest of my team letting me explain myself last knowing Adrian would want to know more about Spirit than anything else. He was shocked to learn that Tyler and Jacob could turn into animals or that Eddie and Shane had wings, Shane having dragon wings and Eddie having angel-like wings.

"What about you Clary? Or do you want me to call you Rose because Clary suits you." He says politely. I prefer my real name to Rose. Every time I hear it, I'm reminded of how I am not who I say I am, and that I am lying to everyone around me.

"Call me whatever you want. Just don't mention anything in front of anyone else." I warn him.

"Okay. Little Hunter. Tell me about your abilities." Little Hunter. I like it.

"Well. I am a Psi-Drakon so I have an Elemental parent who has Spirit and Fire. In my case, my mum." I say, getting upset at just the mention of my mother.

"So Janine Hathaway is an Elemental?"

"No. Janine isn't real..." This is going to be hard to explain.

"What do you mean?" How do I explain this? I look to Eddie for help and he, thankfully, starts explaining.

"What Charlie means is Janine Hathaway died about 17 years ago." Eddie explains.

"What? But I've seen her."

"Yeah. Well, here's what happened. She was pregnant and she had just taken maternity leave when her and the childs father, we don't know who he is, were taken by Strigoi. They killed her, the father and the unborn child straight away. Some Hunters were tracking down these Strigoi and a few days later they killed them. That's when they came across Janine's dead body. One of the Hunters had Spirit so they healed her body but she was too far gone to be brought back so instead they took her to the Elders."

"They are our government. They then hatched a plan to stop this war between our kind. They re-animated Janine and put the mind of a strong Hunter into her body to gather information on the Moroi and dhampirs. She's been there ever since." I continue.

"Okay. What the fuck?" He says. I know, mindfuck right?

"I know. It's a lot to take in." Eddie says.

"Yeah. No shit. So one of the best guardians in the world isn't a guardian."

"No. Janine was an amazing guardian she was just unlucky." He adds.

"You guys are giving me a mind fuck here. I mean... This stuff you can do. It's amazing. It's just a shame that she died. No one even mourned her."

"We did. We gave her a proper funeral. She was respected." I quickly mention.

"I know. I don't doubt that you did." He waits a few minutes before adding, "Carry on. I want to hear more."

"Anyway," I say with a thoughtful smile. "my mum was an Elemental and she had Spirit and Fire. My dad was a non-element Hunter so her elements were dominant. Out of all their kids, it was only me who inherited any elements. My brothers are all non-element Hunters like my dad."

"Wait. What do you mean your mum WAS an Elemental? And you have brothers?"

"Yes. I have 4 brothers. Dean, Sam, Jon and Chase. And... uh...my mum was killed by a demon... when I was nearly 1 years old." Everyone's silent. Eddie knows what happened, as well as the others, and they all know that I don't like talking about what happened that night. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"I'm sorry, Clary. I won't bring it up." Adrian reaches for my hand and strokes over it with his thumb.

"It's okay. Anyway?" I say trying to change the subject. "Right, I have Fire and Spirit. Because I have fire I can control dragons and have a"

"Dragons? Did you say DRAGONS!?"

"You should see her dragon, Adrian. He is amazing." Eddie says. Everyone is very fond of Toothless. You'd have to be an idiot not to be. He may be a dragon, but he acts more like a dog than anything.

"I need to see this dragon." Adrian says, quickly getting excited to see a dragon.

"And you will tomorrow." I laugh, thankful to not be reminded of what happened when my mum died. "As I was saying, I can control and ride dragons, have a natural immunity to fire and can withstand high temperatures. I can also do loads of things with Spirit."

"Like?"

" I have the ability to communicate telepathically, telekinesis, I have a natural immunity to compulsion, I can compell people, sense species, I can read auras, dream-walk, can look into the past, present and future, visions, heal and I can also overtake and control a person's mind. I can also mentally control fire. But Drakon, which are Fire type Hunters, can't control fire its self for some reason. I don't know why."

"So you can do all that?"

"Yeah and a few other little tricks. I can teach you if you wan.." Before I can finish the sentence Adrian says yes. I can tell he is looking forward to this. For about another hour we tell him about our kind. About the demons and werewolves, witches and shape-shifters. He freaks out more than once. Before we go though, I have to ask him one question.

"Adrian, why are you not freaking out about us and what we are?" I add. Asking the question I have been thinking about all day.

"Why? Because I knew when I first saw you, that you were trouble. A good trouble though. I saw something. It wasn't clear. But it is now."

"A vision. You had a vision." I add. I wonder if... No, I'm wrong. It's impossible.

"Yeah. I saw you. Saving people. Risking yourself for them. I knew that you would save everyone if you could. I have immense trust in you, Little Hunter. The minute you told me what you were, I knew everything they told us was wrong. My instincts tell me you are good. And if Hunters and Elementals were what I was told you are, how could you be like that? You are more important than you think you are Clary. Something big will happen. I don't know what. But it will happen. I just know." What does he mean? He hasn't... has he?

"Ok. Well, it's late. And I have to be up early for training." I say, not wanting to mention anything else in front of Eddie.

"Yeah, we should go. I'll see you later Adrian."

"Yeah, bye Adrian." And then Eddie and I sneak back to our rooms. Being careful not to get caught by any guardians roaming the academy. Once I get back in my room, I get changed into light blue shorts and a white tank top to sleep in and crawl under the covers but not before talking to Adrian psychically.

_Hey, you up?_ I say.

Adrian- _Yeah, weren't you just here?_  He replies, sounding confused as to why I'm talking to him.

_I need to talk to you about the vision._

Adrian _-Why? And you are going to teach me how to do this... this Psi-texting._ He says. Psi-texting. Good. It suits it.

_How long did you think that one up? And I will, but you can't tell anyone else._

Adrian- _I won't. Now what about that vision?_

_I think I had the same one._

Adrian _-Really? What did you see?_

_Not much. Nothing really. It was dark, I could only see a small white light in the distance but I heard someone._

Adrian _-Was the voice deep and ruggedy and sounded old?_

_Yes._

Adrian- _Did he say, the one with the fury of the night and the bond to death._

_shall rise above all and defeat the evil in the shadows and bring the light._ We both think simultaneously.

Adrian- _What does it mean? I guess that the bond to death means the fact that you're shadowkissed. But 'the one with the fury of the night'? No idea._

_I think I do. My dragon. Toothless. He's a night-fury, the last of his kind._

Adrian _-Ok. 1. You called your dragon Toothless and 2. What about the 'shall rise above all and defeat the evil in the shadows and bring to the light.'_

_I don't know and Toothless is his name, yes. It's a long story. Look don't mention any of this to anyone not even Eddie and them. They don't know._

Adrian- _Why haven't you told them?_

_The Elders told me not to._

Adrian _-Oh. Ok. Don't worry. I won't tell._

_Thank you. I'll let you sleep now. Goodnight Adrian._

Adrian _-Goodnight Clary._

And I fall asleep, thinking about those words. What do they mean? I need to know.

 


	6. Chapter 5- Moroi and their secrets

**Chapter 5-Moroi and their secrets**

"Hows the case going?" I ask. My feet crunch from the slowly melting snow.The snow has stopped falling for now but I have a feeling it'll be re-starting soon.

"Oh, you know. The usual. Some witches killing people. And me and Sammy trying to stop them." My brother, Dean, says with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Getting sick of witches are ya Dean?" That case. Oh my god! That was awkward. It was one of the strangest cases I have ever had and I have been in some pretty weird situations.

"Hell yes. They are seriously annoying and bitchy. I am still holding a grudge from what happened in Seattle." He says with annoyed laughter in his voice. I remember that case. It was the summer just before the car crash with the Dragomirs and Dean, Sam and I were in Seattle on a case of a witch coven. They were killing their ex's off because they had left them. Some pathetic, lonely old women in their mid-forties who couldn't seem to keep a guy. Dean had made the mistake of sleeping with one of them one night before he knew they were the witches we were after. What happened was this witch hadn't realized that it was just a one night stand and had gone after Dean the next night when she saw him trying to pick up some other blonde bimbo from the bar. Long story short, Dean was kidnapped and well, given a... lap dance. It wasn't pretty. The whole coven was there, licking his face. It was weird. Really weird. And fucking hilarious. When Sam and I had gotten there, we were trying hard not to fall down laughing. The second we had killed the last witch we both burst out laughing at the scene whilst Dean was there screaming for us to help him. Once we untied him, he sprinted out of the building to the car. It still makes me laugh every time I think about it.

"I remember that. I'm sure you secretly enjoyed it." He hates when we even mention it. We nearly mentioned it to Bobby once and he literally attacked us both. He's so embarrassed.

"Don't even go there Clary." Clary? He must _really_ be embarrassed.

"Okay, I'll leave it." I say trying to stifle a grin. Rolling his eyes as we speak I bet.

"So... Gaius told me you told that Adrian guy. Hell, he must be a powerful Spirit user to be able to know you weren't dhampir." The Elders must of told some other Hunters.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Every body is going to ask me about that now, aren't they?

"What's gonna happen now then?" 

"He says he won't tell anyone. That he'll keep our secret and help us." 

"And do you believe him?" Dean questions.

"Yeah. I do." I say truthfully.

"Let me guess. Your instinct?" I bet he's smirking right now. 

"Of course. I'm actually on my way to meet with him now to show him stuff and introduce Toothless to him." Toothless was so ecstatic this morning when I told him Adrian was going to meet him. He must get bored being on his own all the time. I try to spend as much time with him as I can but with evryhting at the academy it gets a bit hard sometimes. 

"Well, good luck with that. You taking him to the lake?" He questions. 

"Yeah. It's the safest place to talk and to show him some Spirit tricks." I respond.

"So you're going to teach him some Spirit?" Dean queries.

"Yeah." I can't wait. This is going to be so fun. I've never taught people Spirit before. Every Hunter or Elemental usually learns Spirit from their parents or the Elders in training.

"Good luck with that. You might need it."

"Rose!" I hear Adrian shouting. I rapidly turn my head to see Adrian hurriedly making his way too me.

"Hey Adrian!" I scream back.

"He's there?" Dean asks.

"Yeah, he's here now." I reply.

"Okay well. I'll leave you to it then. Talk to you later sis."

"Yeah. Okay. Bye Dean, tell Sammy I said 'hi'." That reminds me. I have to talk to Sam about this vampire thing. If anyone knows whats going on, it'll be him.

"Will do. Bye."

"Bye." I say just before Dean hangs up. Putting my phone away in my pocket, I go to meet Adrian halfway in his run to me.

"Who was that?" He quickly says.

"Dean." I say quietly. 

"Your brother Dean?" He asks.

"Yep." I say whilst smiling.

"Cool. So what now?" He asks.

"Now we walk into the forest." I say before turning to the forest.

"If you want to kill me you might as well do it here. More entertaining." He says walking by my side and grinning.

"I'm not gonna kill you... Not yet anyway." I mock. Quickly I throw a look over my shoulder just in case anybody is watching us. Hopefully no-one is dumb enough to follow us. That would surely cause some unwanted trouble. Anyway. It's not like they could sneek up on me. I'd sense them before I saw them.

"Yeah sure. You could never kill me. You'd miss me too much. Little Hunter." I much prefer that nickname.

"Good point."

"So where are we... whoa. What the fuck?" Adrian screams. Toothless is swiftly flying through the trees while holding Adrian by the arms.

"Say hi to Toothless Adrian." I say laughing. Toothless then turns back for me and I quickly hop onto his back. Holding my hand down, I pull Adrian up by the hand behind me and onto Toothless's back. Zig-zagging through the maze of trees, all three of us quickly arrive at the lake. The others aren't coming today seeing as they are all back at the academy covering for me and Adrian.

"Wow. It's beautiful." Adrian says in awe at the lake. Toothless then nudges his back causing Adrian to turn around quickly and jump back at the sight. Toothless is sitting there with me standing at his side, wide-eyed and trying to smile which for him just looks threatening. To say Adrian looks scared would be an understatement.

"Toothless, this is Adrian Ivashkov, Moroi. Adrian, this is Toothless, a night-fury dragon." I quickly state. Adrian is standing there stock still. I would be too if I had just seen a dragon. With his scaly black body, large wings, long legs, giant adorable green eyes, long tail and menacing looking spikes on the top of his head, he's an exceptionally strange but marvelous creature to look at.

After a while Adrian comes to his senses and says, "It's nice to meet you Toothless." with a lopsided grin spread across his face. At that he is quickly pounced on by the over excited night fury. Toothless then starts licking Adrian like a dog would... or me when I have an ice cream. Adrian starts laughing and playing along with my strange little dragons antics.

"I can see you two are getting along." I tease.

"Your dragon's pretty awesome, Clary." Adrian says getting up whilst Toothless jumps into the water for a swim. How does he go from calling me Rose to switching to my real name so quickly?

"Yeah. I know!" I reply, probably looking as proudly as I sound.

 "So... Spirit." He says, wanting to get down to business as soon as possible.

"Yep. Now first things first. You need to learn how to control the spirit darkness." I seriously say.

"Right, the darkness... Wait. If you have Spirit, that means you get the darkness, as well as the fact that you are bonded to Lissa and take away her darkness, that means you have double the amount... Holy Shit." I was wondering when he'd figure that one out. It is a bit of a problem.

"Yeah...about that. My people figured out how to control the darkness that having Spirit entails centuries ago. And with Lissa's darkness, well, that's a different story." I vaguely answer.

"What do you mean?" He asks trying to dig deeper.

"Lissa's darkness makes me lose control sometimes. And it's been increasing steadily ever since the bond was created. My kind don't know what to make of it because Spirit users aren't usually bonded with another Spirit user. It's an incredibly rare thing. And in the rare instances it does happen, the spirit user who was brought back from the dead will die within a month because the darkness overwhelms them."

"What do you mean lose control? How rare is it? And why hasn't it killed you?" He slowly asks, wondering if I would be offended or not by his question.

"I honestly don't know. I should have died ages ago now. But, somehow, I'm still here and I don't seem to be leaving anytime soon. It's incredibly rare as in the last one was 379 years ago and when I say lose control I mean I start to hear thoughts."

"But can't you do that anyway?" He confusedly says.

"Yeah, I can. But only when I try to. I have no choice when I lose control and it all fills my head and overwhelms me. It used to be easy to deal with. A bit of pain but yesterday, just before lunch, it became too much. It was much worse than anything I've ever had. I could hear everyone's voices, like they were talking right in front of me. The pain was unbelievable. You can't just describe it because nothing does it any justice. You could never imagine the amount of pain. And it'll probably just get worse." I quietly remark.

"Do the others know?" He inquires softly.

"Yeah. Everyone knows. It's been happening more and more often now..." I say to Adrian quietly. After a few minutes of an awkward silence Adrian asks if we can get started. Thank God! That started to get really awkward. After telling Adrian to sit down by the lake, I start explaining how you can control the darkness.

"Okay. How to control the darkness. Well, we hunters, figured out how to control the darkness a looong time ago now. What we do is we use certain spells to keep it away from us but most of the time we just use silver charmed with spirit. It's pretty simple but you have to have quite a bit. But strangely, darkness doesn't effect us like it does with you Moroi."

"What do you mean?" He questions.

"Well, for some reason Moroi get more effected by it than we do." It's odd. I don't know why. It shouldn't really. But it does. Sure, Hunters and Elementals get darkness but we don't get effected it by it like the Moroi do. No where near actually.

"Then why do you get overwhelmed?" Good question. I honestly have no idea. Yet another thing I need to find out.

"I don't know. Probably because my bond mate is a Moroi and somehow the darkness is worse for you."

"Oh... Great!" He says sarcastically.

"Tell me about it."

"So. You got any charms?" 

"Yeah. I have actually." I call Toothless and tell him to bring the bag. Quickly he lands next to me with a large thud and holding a brown leather bag, tosses it in between me and Adrian. He reaches for the bag and pulls out a bunch of silver objects. Silver bracelets, rings, necklaces. Everything that wouldn't be too obvious. "You like them?" I ask.

"Yeah. At least they're not girly." Adrian says laughing.

 "True." Most of them are bangles or cuffs. Mainly things that can be hidden. An anklet, or a thin bracelet.

"So, is that all or do I get to learn some awesome tricks?" He asks hopefully.

"Today, my dear student," I say with a smirk. "we will be learning telepathy."

"Oh yes. Finally. How the hell do you do that?" He says, fist pumping the air.

"Some people it comes natural. And some people have to try just a bit harder." I state honestly.

"Let me guess. You were a natural." He says with sarcasm marking his features.

"Obviously. Now I reckon you are probably a natural but because it's brand new to you, it might take some time." I don't think it will though. My instincts say he could be a powerful Spirit user if he had practice.

" Okay. And how do I do that?" 

_By concentrating on who you want to talk to._

"And I do that how?" He responds frustrated.

_Just concentrate on what you want to say to me and think it._

" Fine. I'll try." I can see his face covered in concentration. He must be thinking hard. Telepathy is one of the main abilities we use. I mean, I use it almost daily. It's much easier than texting. It's also cheaper. Ha! 

Adrian- _Hey... re._ After a few tries he starts to get the hang of it.

_There you are. You've nearly got it. Just concentrate more. It's not coming through very clearly._

Adrian- _Is it ...now?_ 10 minutes later I hear his thoughts again, pushing themselves into my head.

_Better. Keep going!_

Adrian- _This is hard you know._

 _There it is. I knew you were a natural!_ He really is good. He's a natural.

Adrian- _Wait? Really?_ He thinks. I can see the excitement in his eyes. 

_Yep._

Adrian- _I'm tired._

_It'll take a lot out of you at first. But with practice it won't affect you so much._

"Okay. I'm done. That's tiring." He says with a tired look on his face.

"Tell me about it."

"Okay. So keep practicing right?" He says starting to fill with energy once again at the prospect of doing more Spirit tricks.

"Yep. But only try with me, or the others. And only if we are right next to you. Long distance will take more out of you."

"What distance can you reach?" Curiously he asks.

"Everything. But most spirit users around our age can do about 20 miles away."

"Christ. You can do that much... Amazing."

I start to get up and he follows me, holding on to the leather bag filled with silver charms. "Yeah, well. It just comes easy to me." 

He smiles gently at me. I can see the love he feels for me in his aura but I know that I'm not the one for him. I just know that, somewhere, there is someone out there for him. Someone who can love him like he will love them. Like how I love Dimitri. All day I've been avoiding him. I didn't go to practice this morning and I didn't go to our practice session this afternoon so I could get more practice time with Adrian.

"Hey are you okay?" Adrian asks noticing the grave look on my face.

"No." I let out discouragingly.

"Let me guess. Cradle Robber..." He asks with a worried look in his deep emerald green eyes.

"Yeah. I just can't help but feel guilty." I say with unshed tears in my dark brown eyes.

"Why?" He asks.

"Why? Because I keep pushing him away. And it doesn't help that he keeps insisting that I do, in fact, love him."

"But you do love him." He announces.

"Yeah. I know. But he can't know that."

"Why?" Does he always ask this many questions?

"You know why. Because if he knows then, everything we have worked to, infiltrating the Moroi and Dhampirs to solve this damn war, won't mean anything. He'll end up finding out about what I am and he'll want me dead. The whole thing will be ruined. And... I can't. I don't want him to hate me. To hunt me down."

He stays silent then. I don't want to talk about Dimitri today. I want to forget, or at least ignore him. That's why I'm going to see Alberta to try and get these sessions stopped or at least change mentors. It's not like I need them. I'm ahead of the novices in the dhampir fighting. Thanks to him, that is. It's time the sessions stopped. Then he can move on faster. And hopefully so can I. Plus, I'm not going to be Lissa's guardian anyway so we have nothing to connect us to each other anymore. Well, that's idea anyway.

We both climb onto Toothless and he rapidly flies between the trees. Just a blur to anyone who saw. I can feel Adrian's hands on my hips, clinging for dear life.

"Don't worry." I say. "You won't fall off." I can't help but to laugh and after a few seconds he joins in and for a second I forget about everything that's happening. The vampires who are on their way, Dimitri, Lissa's weird behaviour, the war, the darkness. Just for a second, I can just revel in the silence of nature. In the peace and calm it brings.

Landing a few metres away from where the forest ends, Adrian and I hop off of Toothless and I give the night-fury a hug before releasing him. He flies away and we both make our way back to the academy. Checking in with Eddie, I make sure no-one suspects anything.

"No. Just Belikov. He thinks you've left again." Right. I didn't tell him I wasn't coming to practice.

"Great. Well I'll see you later. I got to go sort some things out."

"Okay. See ya." They both say in unison.

Hurriedly making my way to Alberta's office, I knock on the door and rapidly walk in to see Dimitri worryingly trying to figure out where I am, Alberta smiling to herself because she is the only one who has noticed me walking in, and Kirova looking pissed off. Why is she pissed off, I thought she'd be happy I was gone. Ha!

"Hi." I say. At that Dimitri and Kirova turn around. Dimitri looking relieved and Kirova looking even more pissed off. More pissed off! Right. That's it. I don't understand Moroi at all. Their moodswings are giving me emotional whiplash. Well. Lissa's moodswings. She's still blocking me out of the bond.

"Where have you been?" Kirova starts shouting. Her tone becoming more sharp with each word.

"Forest. I needed time to myself." Yeah. To do Hunter things. The people you _try_ to hunt.

"You were supposed to be at your training session with Guardian Belikov. Why didn't you go or at least tell someone you weren't going?" Alberta asks suspiciously.

"About the sessions... We all know I don't need them anymore. So why carry on? I'm sure it would be easier for everybody if they stopped now. I mean if they stopped you would have another guardian to share some of the duties instead of Guardian Belikov wasting his time training a novice who is already past her classmates." I say whilst trying to gather as much confidence as I can.

"Well. That's the first good idea I've heard you ever say Rose." Kirova says sounding shocked. A smug smile starts to tug at the corners of her lips.

"I'm full of them." I announce sarcastically.

"Rose. Are you sure?" Alberta asks. It looks like Dimitri is staying quiet right now. Good. It would be much harder if he tried to fight me on this.

"Yes. I'm sure. There is no need for them now." I say looking her and Dimitri in the eye.

"Okay then. The sessions are cancelled but you aren't supposed to be out of your dorm except for certain activities. I'll let you off this time. But I'm warning you Rose." Kirova says, seemingly not noticing the tension in Alberta and Dimitri's expressions. "Guardian Petrov, Guardian Belikov." She says nodding at the two and making her way out the door.

The second she leaves I am bombarded with questions. Why are you cancelling the sessions Rose? What's going on Roza? Are you okay? Don't these two understand that I don't need them anymore.

"Look. We all know that I don't need the training sessions anymore so I'm cancelling them now. That's it. I'm not going to change my mind." Then I storm out of the room. If they try to convince me otherwise then I'll just tell them the same thing again.

I go back to my dorm room and quickly fall asleep in the night.

* * *

 

I wake up at about 2 in the morning, Moroi time that is, and go outside for some air. I walk out of the dhampir dorm and stealthily past the guardian on the duty. Walking through the doors I am hit with a burst of cold air. Snow crunches underneath my feet. I hear footsteps coming my way and quickly hide behind a large bush in front of the grey building.

"They need to know Dimitri." Alberta? Dimitri and Alberta come from around the corner. They were probably on watch or something.

"I know but it would be best if Roza and Lissa were kept away from all the politics of the thing. I just want to protect her...Uh... I mean them." Dimitri says stuttering at the end. Protect us from what? Also if it was anyone else he was talking to they would have interrogated him for what he meant by just me. Thankfully Alberta already knows somehow. Hopefully she won't mention it. If I hadn't of read her mind when I first got back I probably would never of known.

"Look. I understand but they will find out some way or another. As well as the fact that he's coming back to the academy..." Alberta says trailing off the end. Who's coming back? What's going on? I don't understand. These vampires... Can't they just get to the point.

"You're right." He says with a finality. What is going on? Do I _need_ to read their minds?

"Viktor Dashkov only got away with everything because the queen doesn't want the other 'common' Moroi to think that some royals are criminals and aren't as perfect as they think they are." Viktor Dashkov! He's back. Does Lissa know? Why haven't they told us about this? Holy shit! I'm trying really hard not to burst out from behind the bush and interrogate them until they tell me everything. Actually that's a good idea! I could just compell them to forget.

"But if the Moroi found out..." Dimitri slowly states, sounding more like a question than a statement.

"Their could be a rebellion and the royals don't want that. With everything going on with the... you know, The Hunters and Elementals, they don't need any more division." What the fuck? What do they mean by that? Nothing has happened with us. We've been laying low as usual and they have been too stupid to notice. This whole thing is just getting more and more complicated by the day.

"When will everyone find out?" He asks.

"Tomorrow. First lesson." Alberta says. Her aura has wariness spiking throughout and Dimitri doesn't seem to notice. Well. His aura says he hasn't notice so I take it he hasn't. Why is she so wary?

"Good. What about Rose?" He says with confusion and affection in his eyes.

"I don't know..." She says. I don't hear the rest because they walk out of earshot. Viktor Dashkov? Hunters? What the hell next? Like it wasn't hard enough to deal with vampires and the war. Why the hell did they let Dashkov out? Moroi truly are imbeciles. I need to talk to the Elders and the others. Making my way back to my dorm quickly, I fall on the bed and quickly pull the Elders, Eddie, Shane, Jacob, Tyler, Scott, Emily and Adrian into a spirit dream. Swirls of colour take place in my mind and I can see the Elders council room. The others are in seats on the opposite side of the table to me and the three Elders. 

Looking at Elder Craven, I state my intention to host this abrupt meeting. "As you can see, I have called on all of you because a recent discovery has just been made. You all know about the situation with Lord Dashkov regarding Princess Vassilissa Dragomir." I wait, until they all encourage me to continue. "Well, it has been made known to me that he has been let out of confinement and the Moroi council have hidden his crimes away." Cries of astonishment fill the room.

"I understand that but why is the Moroi hear. This is Hunter and Elemental business." Says Elder Acker with a confused tone.

"Yes. It is Hunter and Elemental business, but in light of our recent admission to Adrian, I feel as he deserves to know what is going on and if we want him to help us then we shouldn't hide things like this from him." I reply, earning me a proud look from the Elder. Elder Acker is an old but wise man. He was the one to come up with the idea of us infiltrating the Moroi and Dhampir and he has high hopes for us all. I can't let him down.

"Did you know of this?" Elder Craven asks Adrian.

"No. I had no idea. What's going on?" Adrian says sounding incredulous. He must be pretty shocked right now. I'll have to talk to him tomorrow.

"I pulled you all into a spirit dream. We are in the image of our council room in North America." I say to him.

"So the Moroi are hiding something from the rest of their people. How do you know this?" Elder Jameson says from the corner of the table. I only called these three Elders, Craven, Acker and Jameson, knowing that they were the most powerful men on the council.

"I was outside getting some air when I heard footprints coming from behind me. Quickly I hid from them behind a bush and overheard Guardian Petrov and Guardian Belikov conversation. They said that the Moroi and dhampirs don't need anymore division. Something to do with us but they didn't say anything else. From what I gathered, we would be told about this 'development' with our races tomorrow first thing." I say sounding as professional as I can.

"Is that all?" Elder Jameson asks.

"They were talking about a possible rebellion if the information about Viktor Dashkov was known publicly. Probably because it would emphasize the fact that they treat their 'royals' differently to the others." In all truthfulness, a rebellion could help our cause but it could also make matters worst. It's not worth the risk.

"Once you find this information, tell us immediately. Any developments must be passed on to us." The Elders say.

"Of course." Eddie says. I nearly forgot they were here. They all usually take the backseat when it comes to the council and let me take the reins.

"What about the vampires?" Scott asks. I wonder why the vampires are coming here. All of this is strange. Something's wrong. I can feel it.

"We have no developments on the vampire issue. All we can say at the moment is to prepare for them. Take any precautions but don't get caught. We don't need any Moroi or Dhampirs knowing about them. How long is left until they are due to arrive, Clary?" Elder Craven directs to me.

"There is about 3 days if not less until they arrive." They could be here much faster now. I'm not sure.

"The second they are close enough, you must immediately take out the vampire threat."

"What about information?" Tyler asks. We'll need to know why they are there before we kill them.

"Do what you need to do. But only if it's safe. No mistakes." Of course. Safety for us and the Moroi and Dhampirs is the top priority. Too many factors are at risk here to just let something go wrong.

"Of course." We all say in unison.

"Now, is there anything else?" Acker asks.

"No." I reply.

"Fine. Finish the preparations, get the information and any threats, I trust you can take care of it."

"Of course." We all say whilst Adrian is still looking around in awe.

"Meeting disclosed." The Elders knock on the table and with that the spirit dream ends. I can feel the others are still sleeping. Looks like we have some work ahead of us. I mean, between the vampires, Viktor Dashkov, the Hunters and Elementals 'problem', and the war, we are going to need to do everything we can to come out of this in a good place. I just don't understand...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has read my story. I'll try to update soon but I have just started my GCSE's so I might not have much time this week or the next but I might post a filler chapter. Please leave a comment :)


	7. Chapter 6- Shocking Discoveries

**Chapter 6- Shocking Discoveries**

After the abrupt meeting, I quickly fell asleep in my bed. I woke up a bit later than usual but now that I have no training sessions to go to, I'll have more time to sleep in. Yes! Quickly I go for a quick hot shower and get changed into my usual leather jacket and the rest of my clothes. I sprint down to the canteen where I am met by a certain enthusiastic Adrian Ivashkov.

 _Can we talk about that meeting?_ He says through a Psi-text as he has taken to calling them.

"Yeah. Sure. We can talk over there. No one will hear us then." I say pointing to a secluded table in the corner of the canteen. The table is far enough from the relentless activity in the centre of the canteen that it's safe to talk without anyone hearing us. "Let's go." 

Briskly we walk over to the table but not before taking a detour to get some breakfast. I'm starving. 

"Do you need to...?" I say with a glance towards the Feeders. I have nothing against the Feeders issue with the Moroi. They get treated better than some Moroi and well, all dhampirs but the idea of someone feeding on you, doesn't sit right with me. Actually it gives me the chills. But the high you get from a Moroi bite is something else. It's amazing. Trust me. I'm talking from experience though I wouldn't do it again. When I was on the run with Lissa, we had no choice but I wouldn't do it just for fun. It's degrading. But, I'd take a Moroi bite over a vampire bite anyday. Trust me when I say they hurt like a bitch.

Sitting down, Adrian is just about to start talking when Eddie, Emily and Tyler walk in through the doors. "Timing eh?" Tyler says grinning.

"Yeah. Well done Ty." I say laughing.

"Alright guys. There's plenty of time for fun and games later. But right now it's business." Eddie says with a determined look.

"Right. First things first. The issue with, well, us. We are supposed to be told today at first lesson so we won't have much time. But that doesn't matter because we can just talk telepathically. So we need to find out what is." I am abruptly interrupted by Kirova on the stage on the opposite side of the canteen.

"Listen up everyone. Now there is a new matter that has arisen which we all must be informed of immediately. So, everyone must listen to what we say right now and go to their designated areas immediately." Kirova says. Immediately everyone quietens down. This must be it. I start to zone out immediately and not pay attention to what she's saying. She just keeps repeating where everyone is supposed to go. This is much more boring and dull than I first thought. Though I do notice guardians are pouring in from all entrances.

_Scott, Shane, Jacob. Get your asses to the canteen now._

_Already here Charlie._ Jacob replies. I see them walking through the doors of the canteen now. 

I just about notice when Kirova says 'seniors and visitors to the school will stay in the canteen'. Rapidly, everyone starts going to where they are supposed to. I see two heads coming in our direction through the crowd that has appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Mason and Mia start to make their way towards us.

"Hey guys. Any of you know what's going on?" Mason says once they both reach us.

"No idea Mase." I say. I don't want to talk about the whole thing before I pull myself together. Sure enough, we'll hear the usual lies about our people but after all these years, it doesn't get any easier.

"I wonder what's going on that's so important." Mia says excitedly. So do I.

"Quiet down everyone." Alberta says once she reaches the stage. "I know you all must be wondering what is so important for this meeting of sorts. So I'm just going to go straight in and say it. I'm sure you all know about the Hunters and Elementals." The second she says our races name the canteen is filled with shouts of all kind. 'Fucking Strigoi', 'Kill them all' and 'Murderers' are just some of the names the crowd call us. And they're the nice ones.

 _Guys. Try to keep calm. Your aura's are shouting anger._ I probably can't say much though. I'm the same.

Eddie- _Well what are we supposed to do?_ He says annoyed.

 _I know. But think about the plan. We have to end this war._ The anger is still in all our auras and even Adrian's surprisingly but another emotion starts to take place. Determination to end this war.

Adrian- _Clary's right. This war needs to be stopped._

Scott- _At least we have one Moroi on our side_. At that we all send Adrian a thankful glance. He smiles back at us. One Moroi, yeah. But is that enough? How will we convince the rest of them?

"Alright. That's enough. As you all know we are at war with the Hunters and Elementals." Alberta says with a hateful expression. Shouts start rising from all directions of the room. I notice Lissa in the corner of my eye with Camille Conta and the other Royals. What the hell? Since when has she been with them. She has hated them for as long as I can remember. I can see that she, along with others are filled with hatred, in their expressions and their auras. I hear her shouting things like 'Get rid of them' and 'They don't deserve to live'. I have heard Moroi and Dhampirs say things about my people so many times and it has never hurt me personally but coming from Lissa it hurts me in a way I never thought it would. _  
_

Adrian- _She just doesn't understand._ He says when he notices the same thing as I have.

 _I know._ I just wish she did. It would be so much easier. I hate lying to her. But this is the way it has to be... For now at least. Looking around I see others saying the same. Everyone from seniors to adults including all the guardians. " Okay. Shut up. All of you. Let me speak first then you can say whatever you want. The war with these monsters has taken a different direction. Usually they have just killed us randomly, but now things have changed. They have started to take a more direct approach. Yesterday, they attacked a large group of Moroi, Royal and non-Royal, and a few were killed. Luckily the guardians there made sure to protect the rest of the Moroi and only 3 guardians died in the attack. Now this is much more specific to us, because this group contained Queen Tatianna Ivashkov." What the fuck?

 _Adrian, we didn't. I swear._  This is bad. Adrian and his aunt are so close, if he thinks we did this, he could expose us all.

Adrian- _I know._ He believes us. He must trust us more than I thought.

Emily- _They are lying. Why would they lie about something like that?_ We know why. Because this 'attack' will cause fear. And fear is powerful. They can use it to control the rest of the Moroi and dhampirs.

Adrian- _I know. I believe you._

"I believe you." He says whilst grabbing hold of my hand. 

"Thank you."  

"Now. That's not all. The attack was not far outside of the academy that's why this was so specific to us." Everyone starts exclaiming at that. We never did that. If we did, no-one would have walked away. "There is good news though. We had managed to kill three Hunters and Elementals. There bodies are now under lock here at the academy and today at lunch we will have a ceremony. I think it's best to let our Queen tell you about the rest." Hushed whispers take over the room at the mention of their beloved queen. Frankly, I can't stand her. Knowing that she could be in charge of this so called war. My opinion may be biased but she has never done anything good in my eyes.

Tatianna Ivashkov, current queen of the Moroi world, steps into the room and walks onto the stage. "Good morning. Now I know you have all been told about the recent development with the Hunters and Elementals. We are changing things now. The dhampir novices will be trained to kill these monsters and the guardians and novices will be going out to attack these evil creatures. The three bodies will be burnt outside at lunch and today you will get the day off to celebrate this development. We are on our way to winning this war." Whoops fill the room. From Lissa, Christian, his aunt Tasha, who must of arrived this morning, Mason, Mia, Alberta, Stan Alto, and Dimitri... and there I was thinking how much it hurt from Lissa. I never even considered what he thought. "You are now dismissed."

We all leave the canteen and manage to get far enough away from the crowd to talk privately. We reach the trees, just a metre or two away from the edge of the forest. 

"Anyone around?" Shane whispers. He glances around suspiciously as we all do.

"I can't sense anyone." I state quickly. If someone was here, I'd know it. 

"Good. So what's the plan?" Emily asks.

"Shane. You and Scott tell the Elders. Emily, Jacob, Eddie. The vampires are still coming. Sort out the preparations. Tyler, you and Adrian are going to help me find out every detail of this supposed attack. Anything happens, tell us straight away. Eddie, take Toothless with you if you need to. It'll be faster." I say intimidatingly. There is no room or time for argument. Everyone looks at me and quickly follow my orders. 

"Okay. Right, let's go." Scott says. 

"So. How are we going to do this then?" Adrian says confused once everyone has gone.

"You are family to the queen. You have can get information and 'spy' on her for us. And if we need to, we can compell them or read their minds. After that I'll go ask Alberta and see what I can find out." I say. Adrian flinches at the word 'spy' but it needs to be done. I understand that it's hard because she's family. It must be. Thankfully, he goes along with it. I can tell he'll do anything that needs to be done.

"I'm sorry." He says out of nowhere sounding ashamed.

"What for?" Tyler asks. Both of us are confused.

Looking away he says. "Those things they said. I didn't realise that what was being said was actually that bad. I just can't believe that people who I would take as peaceful could do that. Especially people like Lissa. I understand that she doesn't know the truth but the things we said, the things we are doing to your races. It's disgusting. We're the true monsters."

"No. They are. You are not." I tell him.

"Charlie's right. You are on our side. Even though you are betraying your family. You are helping us. That means everything to us." Tyler says. What he is doing, helping us. That gives us hope. He doesn't understand what he has done by just trusting us. He has shown us that there is a chance for us to live peacefully.

"It's true Adrian. But right now. We need to find out who those Hunters were." 

"How?" Adrian says, seeming a bit more hopeful that we don't hate him because of what his species has done and is still doing.

"You are going to ask your aunt for a little favour." I state vaguely.

We all make our way back to the front of the canteen where everyone is gathered. People everywhere are asking what's going to happen. When do the dhampirs get to kill some of these monsters, as they call my people. All sorts of misleaded questions. As much as I want to say it's not their fault I can't help but want to hurt everyone here after hearing all this again. They have no right to say any of this. To lie about an attack. I need to see these Hunters so I can see who they are. 

"Rose. Did you hear? Novices get to go and hunt those bastards with the guardians. Real life experience Alberta's saying. Can you believe it?" I nearly forgot about that. Why are they sending novices to kill us? If a guardian can't get us then a novice has no chance. "Rose? Did you hear me?" Mason looks at me with a worried expression.

"What? Yeah. It's amazing. I can't wait." I say. I succeed in convincing him that I'm excited but in truth I'm freaking out. What if we have to hunt them? How can I do that? What if I see one of my people get hurt? What will I do? 

Actually, No. I know what I would do. I would expose myself to save them. And any dhampir or Moroi who get in my way, I'll kill. I won't let them kill another one of us and do nothing to stop them. As much as I don't want to hurt them, if I have to choose... I'll choose my own.

"I have to go Mason. I'll see you later." I quickly say. Turning around without a goodbye, I make my way to Adrian and he starts talking to Tatiana. Tyler and I keep our distance from Adrian and Tatiana but are still close enough to hear the conversation with our heightened hearing. 

"Aunt Tatiana. Are you okay?" Adrian says, faking sympathy. From his aura, I can see that he has a tiny bit of hatred for his aunt, even though he knows that he still loves her.

"Yes. Adrian, I'm fine. Thankfully we killed a few of those vile creatures. Hopefully with the new training for novices we will start to make a real difference in this war." She states confidently.

"Tell me everything." Adrian says with a hint of compulsion. "The whole story." 

_Adrian, we need the fake story. Be careful how you say it, she might tell us the truth. We need to know what they are saying. The truth will come out later._

Adrian- _Sure. But what do I say?_

_Ask her what did she tell the rest of the Moroi and dhampirs._

"Tell me what you told everybody else."

"Well. I and some other royals were on our way to the academy when we were attacked a few miles away from those monsters. The guardians quickly got into action and took down three of them. Once they saw this they quickly ran away. And that's it." She says. Her aura is screaming lies. 

"That's it? Obviously fake." Tyler accuses.

"Not to them it's not." I say annoyed. These people are idiots. This story is full of holes. No detail. "You know how these vamps are."

"Vamps? You haven't said that in a while." Tyler says chuckling to himself at my mention of the alchemists nickname for these people.

"Right. What about the ceremony later?" Adrian says. I forgot to tell him to get information on that as well.

"Ah. The ceremony. Now. It'll happen later on and the bodies will be burned. The guardians who killed them will be highly rewarded for their bravery and courage and the novices will be sent out in a few weeks on their first hunting trip. This will all help the war. Finally, we have a chance."

"And where are the bodies being kept?" Adrian asks. We need to find the bodies before the ceremony.

"I'm not sure. The guardians took them somewhere. Why don't we talk? Just you and me. Let's go somewhere more private." The queen says forcefully. Adrian sends me a helpless look.

_Go. We'll handle it. If you find out anything more, tell us straight away._

Adrian- _How?_

 _Psi-texting._ I send him a playful look at the mention of his name for telepathy 'psi-texting'. He quickly goes with his aunt and hopefully he'll find out more.

"What now?" Tyler asks. 

_Shane, Scott. Have you told the Elders yet?_

Scott- _They say to find out who those Hunters and Elementals were. Can you sense anything? Anything strange?_

_No nothing yet. But if they are dead I wouldn't sense anything anyway. If you are done, come meet me and Tyler outside the canteen._

"Already there." Shane says coming from behind us.

"We need to find the bodies. As fast as we can." I say.

"How?" They ask me.

"They probably won't tell anyone where they are exactly. So the best chance we have is to just look around. Quickly." Scott states after seeing the blank looks on our faces. "We only have about 3 hours maybe. I'm not sure. And with everything going on right now it's going to be harder with all the panic and all the protection that's bound to be surrounding it."

"So... we look at where there is a larger amount of guardians and that's where it'll be." Shane says slowly. 

"Yeah, but where do we start?" Scott says.

"The cells." Tyler says matter-of-factly.

"What?" Shane asks. His face is scrunched up in confusion.

"The school cells. Of course. If they were anywhere they'd be there." I say, nearly face-palming myself at the stupidity of us all. We didn't even think about the obvious choice for where the bodies would be.

"Great. Let's go." Shane says whilst walking away.

Quickly we all go as fast as we can to the cells and sure enough there are guardians all around the place. Great. That's helpful. How are we going to get past them?  "That's just fucking great. How the hell are we going to get past that without being seen?" Tyler exclaims.

"I have no idea." Shane says.

"We could always create a distraction." I offer up the idea and start thinking of scenarios in my head immediately.

"Distraction?" They all turn to me and ask.

"Yeah. Create a fake Hunter attack, some fancy element stuff, a few shouts, a guardian hit or two, we can cover our faces. It would be easy. Then, some of us goes in and gets the bodies while they are distracted. Easy." I say calmly. I'm a genius. Why didn't I think of this before?

"That's a great idea. But what if they see us?" Shane asks.

"Shane's right... For once. They could see us. It's too dangerous." Scott says trying to think of how this plan of mine could work.

"Then we get other hunters to do it. Hunters they have never seen." Tyler states.

"Like...?" Both Shane and Scott ask.

"I'll call Sam and Dean." Without saying another word, I turn to call Dean's phone.

"Hey Charlie." Dean answers almost immediately.

"Hey Dean. Listen I need you and Sam to get here now." I say urgently. They need to be here now. Or at least in the next 3 hours.

"Why? What's going on?" He interrogates.

"I'll tell you when you get here. Meet me by the lake as soon as you can. And I mean soon. It's urgent." I rapidly say without stopping for a breath.

"Okay. I'll go get the car. Here, tell Sam." I can hear him calling Sam's name in the background.

"Clary? Tell me what's going on." Sam, my brother, asks through the phone.

"Do you know about the supposed attack?" I quickly ask.

"Yeah. Gaius just called to tell us." Of course he did. Gaius always fills us in on everything before anyone else.

"I need you and Dean to act out a fake attack on the academy. Just to get them distracted." Please, get here soon. We haven't got any time for this. They need to get here. We can't risk us doing it and someone recognizing us or wondering where we are.

"So you can get the bodies. I get it, sis. We'll meet you there now okay. We are only 30 minutes away." Sam says understanding my urgency.

"Be fast. Bye Sammy." 

"Bye Charlie." I hang up the phone and turn to the others and tell them they are on their way.

"Well, let's do this then. The rest of us can go check up on the Moroi and dhampirs and make sure nothing goes wrong. Clary, you go meet Sam and Dean. And tell Eddie, Emily and Jacob to meet us there." Scott says whilst keeping an eye out for people who were eavesdropping.

"Will do." Both I and Tyler say and we all go our separate ways.

Sprinting towards the forest, I quickly ask Eddie, Jacob and Emily what's going on at the cabin where we will take the vampires to interrogate.

 _Hey, you guys finished yet? I'm only a minute away._ I say running at my full speed now because no-one can see me.

Emily- _Nearly. Still a few things to do._

_Like what?_

Jacob _\- Just proofing the place from demons and ghosts and other things. We also need dead man's blood. Our current supply is useless._

Eddie- _I'm going to take Toothless with me, so I can get some more. We'll be about an hour, or two._

_Okay. Just be quick. We have less than three hours to get the bodies._

Eddie- _How are we doing that?_

_Sam and Dean are on their way here and they will distract the Moroi and dhampirs just before the ceremony. The whole place will be in chaos allowing one or two of us to go get the bodies._

Jacob- _Good plan. Who's gonna go to the bodies though?_

_I will and we haven't talked about who will come with me._

Emily _-I'll do it._

 _Great. So, Emily and I will get the bodies while you cover for us._ I reach the cabin which is just next to the lake where I am meeting Dean and Sam. Walking in, I notice a line of salt covering every exit as well as devil's traps covering the roof and floor. Chairs with chains wrapped around them are in the center of the room with surgical tools right next to them. Bottles of Holy water are in the corner and knives and guns are arranged everywhere in secret places so we can easily get to one if something goes wrong.

"Well, you have outdone yourselves this time." I say proudly whilst looking at the scene in front of me. In a short amount of time we have done this. Hopefully it works.

"Thanks, Charlie. But Toothless and I should go now if we want to get back in time." Eddie says. He walks out of the door and we all follow him. Toothless quickly comes and rubs his head into my side. It's usually me who flies Toothless but in these circumstances, we have to make an exception. No-one ever usually flies him unless I'm there.

"Okay. Be quick. This can't go wrong." I say urgently. The two nod and quicky fly off to the nearest morgue. That's where we get our dead man's blood from. It'll weaken the vampires and make our jobs easier whilst interrogating them. We all make our way back into the cabin and for the next 20 minutes or so, I help out with the preparations in the cabin. I make devil's traps outside and cover the place in salt and holy water. No demon will be able to get through here now. Even though this won't affect the vampires we can never be to careful.

Out of nowhere I hear large wings flapping and can feel strong gusts of wind coming from the lake. Emily, Jacob and I hurriedly rush over to the lake to see Dean and Sam just getting off of Griffon, a Bronze Targan Dragon. I run up to both my brothers and pull them into a quick hug before getting down to business. 

"Hey guys. You okay?" I say with a large smile on my face.

"Yeah. Fine, sis." Dean says whilst chuckling in his deep voice.

"Good. You know what you need to do?" I inquire.

"We have an idea. Why don't you fill us in?" Sam responds.

"Okay. Well, the plan is you two will be hidden somewhere in the academy but it will be on the fringes of the forest." I explain whilst walking to the cabin's porch. "You will both be shooting at the Moroi and dhampirs just before the ceremony but you won't hit them. Just scare them. If you need to, hit them with a knife in the leg or something. Just don't do anything too drastic that'll kill them or make someone lose a limb. While you're doing that, Em and I will go to the cells to retrieve the bodies."

"Easy. When do we do this?"

"In about 2 hours."

"Wow. That quick, eh. We better sort out our weapons." Dean says to himself.

"You do that now. And then we can get started." My brothers and I head over to Griffon who is also carrying some of their weapons. Griffon is a much larger dragon than Toothless. Easily as tall as an elephant, he has bronze coloured scales with a slight green colouring around his face going down to his chest. With large wings and strong, muscled legs, Griffon is a strong dragon. Whereas Toothless is fast, Griffon is strong, being able to carry large and heavy loads. He's also able to breathe a deathly fire. He's a quiet dragon and keeps to himself but a good fighter and a fast flyer, but nowhere near as fast as Toothless.

The three of us are in the middle of cleaning some knives when Sam speaks up. "You reckon they'll do this again."

"Yes. I do. Do you?" I state.

"Yes." He says.

"So do I. It'll probably get worse though." Dean announces. We don't say anything else after that. None of us really want to think about it. If they are going to keep doing things like this, we might never have a chance to end this war.

* * *

Around an hour and a half later and everyone except for Adrian, who is with his aunt, and Tyler who is keeping his eye on everything, is in the cabin working out the last few details of our plan. The Elders have been informed on our situation and given us permission to go on with the plan. Eddie and Toothless arrived back about 10 minutes ago with large containers of dead man's blood for the vampires.

After working out the route me and Emily will take and what we will do, we all quickly make our way to the edge of the forest where Dean and Sam climb the tall trees and take positions in the canopy. They line up their shots ready and make sure they are in the best position possible before Toothless climbs up after them. With Toothless there, it'll be easier for them to get away without being noticed because of his speed. Griffon is back at the lake right now seeing as he was is too large to come with us and not be noticed.

We quickly walk away from the forest, leaving my two brothers hidden up in the trees. I quickly check if I can sense anything unusual. I can't. Just the usual Moroi and dhampirs, as well as a few Hunters and Elementals. We all walk to the middle of the grounds where the ceremony is supposed to take place. We have about 10 minutes left before the fake attack will start. Adrian and Tyler have been informed on everything and everyone takes their places around the area. Adrian with his aunt. Tyler and Jacob, watching over everyone a few metres away. Eddie and Shane with Mason and the other novices just in case something goes wrong, and Scott with some of the Moroi on the other side. Emily and I are in the back, ready to slip away in a moments notice.

"You remember the plan?" I ask her. I know she does but nothing can go wrong.

"Yep. We'll go through the back entrance to the cells, which just happens to be right next to us, and we'll sneak past the guardians. Then, we'll get the bodies and take them to Dean and Sam, who will then take them straight to the Elders." She says anxiously.

"Good. Everything will go fine." I say to myself more than anything. Emily sends me an encouraging smile. 

"We'll be fine." She says nervously but confident.

10 minutes have been and we have gone through the plan numerous times. We make sure certain people see us like Alberta and Kirova so they know we were here and hopefully no-one gets suspicious. I send a message to everyone and tell them, it's time. Then, right on time, gunshots are taken right in front of the queen who was in the middle of a speech saying how everybody should be united against the evil in the world. A bunch of motivational crap. Everyone screams and, as predicted, the place turns into chaos. Guardians everywhere are trying to figure out what to do in the midst of the panic.

Emily and I sneak away and no-one notices. We stick to the shadows, while guardians who were guarding the cells run to the scene. We creep past the few remaining ones who will, in a minute, go to help. Making our way to the back door, I slowly open it with my black katana sword in one hand and a gun in the other. Emily follows me through the door.

"Anything here?" Emily asks.

I try to sense something but I don't get anything. They must be dead. A door is in front of us and I lean my ear against it only to hear low voices coming through. Dhampirs. We need to get them out of there. But how? 

_Dean, Sam. We need people hurt. Some guardians are still here. The panic it will cause will have to get them out._

Dean and Sam _\- Done._ Both of my brothers reply.

I hear louder cries now as I hear a bullet hitting someone in the leg. If we weren't Hunters or Elementals, we would never have heard that. The guardians in the room on the other side of the room quickly scuttle away to the chaos taking place outside. Stupidly, all the guardians that were guarding the bodies have left. This just makes our jobs that much easier. We make our way to the camera room in the building and delete all tapes from the past hour so they can't see our faces when we get into the room. All camera's in the academy have now been disabled which allows Emily and I to go through to the bodies. I follow Emily to a door where the bodies are currently being contained. We walk through the doors easily. There is a code to get through to the room where the bodies are. We didn't think of this.

"What now?" Emily asks. I immediately get my sword out and slash the panel on the wall. I would hack into it, but we are on limited time right now. Emily walks into the room first and I rush to her. The bodies are in the middle of the room on surgery tables when we find them. But something's not right. This can't be.

"What the..." I say quietly. Looking over the bodies again to see if I saw right. They couldn't have done this. Could they? They are the monsters if they can do this. I never thought I'd see this.

"Are they?" Emily asks. I barely hear her, I'm so consumed in my own thoughts. Why would they do this? I can't believe it. They will do anything, won't they.

"Yeah." I say to Emily. Looking down at the table where the three corpses lie, I slowly say. "They're dhampirs."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has read my story. Please could you leave me a comment or something. It would mean a lot. :)


	8. Chapter 7-Nightmares

**Chapter 7- Nightmares**

"They're dhampirs..." Emily repeats. Both of us are speechless right now. Dhampirs. They are using their own people. They were going to burn their own people. How could they? What's worst is none of them are that old. No older than 18 at the least. "What do we do?" She asks.

"I don't know. I never thought of this scenario." I say truthfully. Who could?

"Do we take them with us?" Do we? I don't know what to do. I can vaguely hear the loud gunshots and piercing screams in the background.

"I ... Yes." And at that we both carry out the bodies Emily with one, and I with two. Emily takes the lead seeing as I have more. We carefully hide in the dark shadows, making sure no-one sees us. Then, once everything is clear, we make a run for it. Luckily no-one notices us. Toothless quickly greets us just a few metres into the dark green forest but luckily everywhere here is heavily vegetated. 

Toothless nearly jumps back in shock when he realises that the bodies aren't one of ours but one of theirs. He quickly gathers himself though and lets us put the bodies on his back to take to the cabin. Emily and I then run back to where the shooting is still taking place and for a few minutes take up our roles as scared Moroi and brave novice. All the guardians are either guarding the Moroi and taking them into the school or looking for Sam and Dean who they think are killer Hunters. Hypocrites. They start to make their way to the tall trees surrounding the academy.

 _Dean, Sam. You might have to run now._ I tell them both. They need to leave before they get caught.

Dean- _No need. Your dragon's here._ They both fly off with Toothless to the cabin. None of the guardians have even gotten into the forest yet so everything is fine for now. But what if they go searching? They could come across the lake, even though they know I know it's far enough away. We'll have to fake them getting away. And I think I know how. 

_You need to fake getting away or they might think that you are still in the area._

Sam- _How?_ He says confused.

 _The car._ A metallic blue 1969 Camaro ZL1. We keep it around just in case we are in need of a quick escape. Precautions.

Dean- _The car? Okay. Sam and I will go to the car drive away make sure they follow us and then disappear, whilst ditching the car._

_No. Don't ditch the car. I have things in it plus it's for a quick escape._

Sam- _Okay. Got it. We'll do that now. The car is at the front of the academy right._

Dean- _Don't they need to see us._

_There will be guardians on duty there and there is cameras._

Dean- _Fine. We'll meet you back at the cabin?_ _  
_

_Yep._

I go to find the others and fill them all in. "Dhampirs?" They all say shocked. 

"How could they be prepared to burn one of their own kind?" Shane admits. That's what I thought. But apparently they can.

"I don't know. How did they die?" Eddie says.

"I don't know we didn't check we were too shocked." Emily says ashamed.

If they can do that to their own people... I don't even know what to say to that. We need to start getting people on our side now. One Moroi won't be enough anymore. We need as much as we can. But how? I'm seriously contemplating telling people but that will get us killed. Especially after that attack. That was a stupid move. I see that now. But I never predicted this outcome.

"We need to go to the cabin. Dean and Sam are probably still being chased at the moment and the vampires will be here soon." I tell them.

"As well as Dashkov." Adrian admits. I almost forgot about him. Yet another thing to add to the pile of things I need to sort out. Viktor Dashkov, vampires, dhampir bodies, Lissa, Dimitri, the vision both I and Adrian had. Christ. This is going to get complicated.

"Yeah. Let's sort out the vampires first." Everyone nods at me. We all go and play our roles and do what is expected of us. What I thought of first was to see Lissa but she hates me. I haven't talked to her since our argument when she called me a blood whore. Those rumours have died down now once word of my trip to New York to help a friend got around the school. I was half hoping that after all the chaos she'd come to me and we'd be fine again but that's not what happened. It wasn't Lissa who came to me but...

"Christian. Hi." What's he doing here? I don't have a thing against him but Lissa's been pulling him around like a dog all week.

"Hey Rose. Look I know I haven't talked to you in a while but I just wanted to see that you were okay." Christian says. I check his aura and worry is coursing through it. After Spokane Christian and I have had a different sort of relationship. We don't hate each other now but are protective towards each other instead. No one ever brings up Spokane because the both of us always lose it when they do. 

I regret the whole situation. I could of killed the two Strigoi straight away but I would of exposed myself seeing as I had no weapons and would of had to use fire. Now, I see that I should of. Maybe they would of been on my side. It would of saved them all from a lifetime of tragic memories.

"I'm fine." The worry lessens but it doesn't leave. It seems as if I'm not the main reason for his worry. 

"Are you okay?" I say with just a hint of compulsion. Hopefully he'll spill and tell me everything. I have been dying to know how Lissa is. She's still blocking me out of the bond.

"Truthfully. Shit. Something's wrong with Lissa. Ever since you left she has been different. I mean, first there was the blood whore thing which every one knows is a lie now by the way, and then the news about Dashkov." Christian suddenly stops talking. He knew about Dashkov. That bastard.

"You knew about Dashkov." I silently say. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I... Wait. You knew?" Oh shit. I wasn't supposed to know. Not yet anyway. How will I get out of this one? I could always tell him the truth. Or a part of it anyway. Good idea Charlie.

"I overheard some guardians talking about it." I say confidently but I can see that he didn't believe me. Luckily. He doesn't say anything and let's it go for now.

"Right then. Well. When she heard, she wasn't mad or upset or anything. Anything that you'd expect anyway. She was happy. Really happy. She met up with him just now actually. I offered to go with her but she... She broke up with me." What? That dumb bitch. He's the best thing that's happened to her and he loves her with all his heart and she just... leaves him.

"What?" I say, eyes gleaming with anger. She just keeps hurting people doesn't she?

"Yeah. Apparently she doesn't want someone like me, so she's with Aaron Badica again. Bad right? That's not the worst part. My Aunt Tasha agreed with her." Tasha what? What's going on? Something's not right. I can feel it.

"I'm so sorry Christian. I don't know what to say. I... I'm sorry." This is frustrating. Something's going on. Yet another thing to add to the to do list.

"Thanks Rose. Look. I'll see you later. I just need time to myself right now. Time to think."

"Yeah. Course." Smiling a small smile that is obviously fake, he turns to leave and I go to meet everyone else at the edge of the woods. They are all waiting for me and turn to me quickly. I can see millions of questions pass through their expressions but they don't have the ability to say them out loud. After a few minutes of silence I break the tension that has cast itself over us. "We should go to the cabin. Sort everything out."

"We all shouldn't go. It would be suspicious if 8 of us were missing." Scott states.

"Who should stay then?" Emily asks.

"Adrian, because he's royal. Eddie, because Mason will look for him. Clary for the same reason. Emily and I, just in case our Moroi friends wonder where we are. Shane can go to the cabin as well as Tyler and Jacob. You three are usually together and if you're all not here it will look less suspicious." Scott announces. He's right. Even though I want to go and see what happens myself, I know it'll be fine. And now I have the time to sort some other things out. This makes much more sense.

We all go our separate ways then except for me and Adrian. We need to talk. About everything. But first, the vision. Neither of us has said a word about it yet. Now, we are on our own in private and this is the best time to talk. We might not have another time like this in a while. 

"Let's talk." Adrian says. He walks to a near bench that is in the right area so no-one mistakenly overhears our conversation. "The vision. What does it mean?  'The one with the fury of the night and the bond to death shall rise above all and defeat the evil in the shadows and bring the light.' I need to know. It's been bugging me ever since we talked about it."

"Well, I'm pretty sure 'the fury of the night' is talking about Toothless and 'the bond to death' part is probably because I'm shadowkissed. The rest I have no idea. But I need to know who it was that said it. And why we both had it. I thought it was only me. Have you had anything else?" He probably hasn't if I haven't.

"Other visions, no. I guess we are at a dead end for now." Adrian admits depressingly.

"Yeah. Tell me about it." 

"Okay. Those dhampir bodies." Right. That. Another thing in my life that doesn't make any sense.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. That wasn't what I expected. But if they are ready to use their own people for their benefit then time could be running out faster than we expected. We need to get people on our side now Adrian." And I mean now. But how? Who to start with? Immediately I think of Mason. If anyone would trust me, it would be him. I would of thought of Lissa first but I don't think she's herself right now. I can't trust her.

"How? Everybody wants you dead." True. That's a big problem. But Adrian trusted me. 

"You said there was more people who agreed with you, right." I say, remembering what he told me when I admitted it to him a few days ago.

"Yeah." 

"Tell me who." Hopefully a high up Moroi or Guardian. More influence that way.

"I don't know who." 

"How do you know people agree with you then?"

"Their auras. That's how." That's just great. We don't even know who they are. What are we going to do now? I look at Adrian and he has a mixed expression on his face. I can't make it out from his aura. So many emotions are manifesting right now. Worry, Fear, Confusion and Shame just to name a few. Maybe I should read his mind.

 _There's something else I need to tell you._ Wait... He's keeping something from me, from us. I know we can trust him and I know he isn't working with the Moroi behind our back so what is it? I decide not to bring it up just in case. But I'll have to tell the others about this. It doesn't look like he's going to say anything. I need to leave. I'm tired and too frustrated to do anything else right now.

"Look... I gotta go. Got some things to take care of." Time. I need time to think. I quickly walk away without another word. I pass the church and I can sense a Moroi sitting in the church's attic. Christian. Maybe I should talk to him. He seems like he needs someone right now. I might not be particularly nice to Christian but I count him as one of my closest friends here in St Vlad's. He's like a brother to me. And after Spokane...

Walking up the narrow staircase that leads into the attic, I make my way up to the room where Christian is currently sitting in and quickly sit down next to him. 

Surprised, he asks. "Hey Rose. What are you doing here?"

"Thought you could use some company. Am I not aloud to hang out with my friend?" I say with a smirk. He turns his head towards me and gives me a small smile, even though he doesn't mean it. I can see unshed tears forming in his ice blue eyes. "If you want to talk." I say to him.

"It's Lissa. I know we broke up and everything but I just... She's not who I thought she was. Not the girl I fell for. She's changed. And it's not because you left. It's something else. Something's wrong. I know it is. I just don't know what. And then there's Tasha. Who hates you by the way." He says with a knowing smirk.

"I know. Trust me, it's pretty obvious." Most people know. Except for Dimitri and Lissa. They can't see through her lies.

"Yeah. Not to everyone else except you, me and Adrian. She thinks you're stealing Dimitri from her. I know you two have something going on by the way." Crap. That smart son of a bitch. Does everybody know? First Alberta now him.

"How?" I don't even deny it. I can't. The way he's speaking shows me that he knows the truth. Well, that truth.

"The way he looks at you. The glances you allow yourself. Why are you trying to stay away from him anyway?" So he noticed that as well.

"Because it's better for him that way, and he's gonna be Lissa's guardian."

"So you couldn't be together because if you were you wouldn't be able to guard Lissa as well as you should." Bingo. Pyro got it.

"Yep." I say, nodding my head.

"Why not now then? You're not going to be Lissa's guardian anymore." He has a point. That's what I would think. But it's not that simple.

"Because. I just can't. Like you said. I won't be Lissa's guardian so what's the point if I'll never be here." My voice takes on a sudden sadness that I rarely ever express openly unless it's to my brothers.

"Why wouldn't you be here?" Shit. I've said too much. I'm going to have to compel him. 

Looking into his icy blue eyes, a common trait in the Ozera family, one of the Royal Moroi families, I compel him and tell him, "Nothing. Forget I said anything. Forget I was here." Then I sped out of the room and ran outside. He won't remember any of it. I can't believe I nearly told him everything. I need to build up my walls again. I've gotten too emotional. To involved in these matters of the heart. I need to have my priorities straight. I can't worry about all this. I know I can't. So why do I?

Because I care. That's why. I care too much about these people when I should be worrying on how to get them on our side. How am I going to do that? Help. I need help. And lot's of it. But where from? I'm so tired. Everything that's happened since I've gotten back has taken it's toll on me. Running to my room, I fall on the bed and within seconds I fall asleep. 

* * *

The air in my small room, at our family home in Lawrence, Kansas, is heavy and smells strange. Like burning. What's going on? I can vaguely sense a creature but my powers aren't as strong as that yet even though my mum says I'm well on my way there. My mum is a Fire and Spirit Elemental so if she had children with a Hunter they would most likely have the same elements. My Dad is a Hunter who doesn't have any elemental abilities, just extra strength and the rest. Out of all five of their children, I'm the only one with abilities and because my mum has Spirit and Fire so have I which makes me a Psi-Drakon Hunter. My four brothers are all like my Dad. They haven't got any abilities. Unlucky.

What's that smell? It stinks. Like sulphur. A grey smoke starts to come through my door and I can feel the air thicken around me. The sounds of a door being hit down and screams course through the house. I can hear my Dad shouting and decide to go check if everything's okay. I get out of my comfy bed and go to slip my slippers and dressing gown on. I walk up to the door and pull on the doorknob but I'm blinded by a large cloud of smoke. My vision quickly adapts to the foggy light and I start to walk up to my Dad's study at the end of the hall. Out of nowhere, I feel hands grab me from behind and pick me up. I start to thrash around until I look up and meet my Dad's olive green eyes looking at me with a worried look. Immediately, I relax against his chest where he is still holding me tight.

Turning around, he walks towards the door of Sam's room where I can see colours of red and orange swirling high in the air. Sam and Dean are standing still a few steps back from the large fire burning Sam's room. I feel panic try to take over and my Dad notices too. "It'll be ok, Charlie. Be strong. For me." He kisses my forehead and settles me down right in front of two of my brothers. "Go outside all of you. Chase and Jon are already there. Run to the street and stay away from the flames." He says quietly and calmly but his eyes are saying a different story. He's panicking. 

"But Daddy, what's going on?" I say with a high voice. My dad takes my hand and tells me to be brave. He turns to Sam and Dean and tells them all the same thing. A loud crash comes from Sam's bedroom and my Dad turns rapidly and stands up heading for the door. A second before he reaches it, he turns around and screams at the three of us to leave.

"Quick, get out of here now!" Terrified, he screams at us. "Dean, take Sam and Clary outside now." He says to Dean, the eldest out of us all. Dean quickly pushes Sam ahead and motions for him to run while grabbing hold of my hand and pulling me outside. 

"Run!" He says but I barely hear him. He pulls me down the flight of stairs and we speed down, instinct taking over. Dodging the broken furniture all over the house we run out the front door and into the middle of the front garden. Jon and Chase are already here with tears forming in their eyes. I can still sense the demon in the house.

A black shadow is in the window of my brothers room looking down at us. At that it quickly disappears and the room goes up in flames. My dad runs out of the house with a grim look on his face. Where's my Mum? He runs up to us and quickly checks us all over. Jon and Chase are fine. Dean has a small cut on his arm and Sam has a few scrapes on his knees where he must of fallen. He comes to me and strokes my dark brown hair while he looks me over for any injuries. After a minute or two he stands up, pleased that I'm not hurt, and looks at the burning house in solace.

* * *

"Clary. Wake up!" I hear from my sleep. I slowly open my eyes and see Adrian looking at me with a shocked look in his emerald green eyes. "Are you okay? You were thrashing around like a fish out of water Clary." The nightmare. I had it again. Usually I have that dream every night but I haven't had it since I got back. All the things happening right now must be putting my terror from the night when I was just 1 years old on a sort of hold. Sometimes I wish I wasn't a Hunter. Then I never would of remembered that night. If I was human, dhampir or Moroi I never would of remembered that. You know, with me being only 1 at the time I wouldn't of remembered it at all but because I'm a Hunter and we grow faster I was at the same stage as a 3-4 year old. 

"Yeah. I'm fine." I say but even I can tell I'm not very convincing. "Really. No need to worry." I say trying to be more convincing but he can see right through me.

"Are you sure?" He asks.

"I don't want to talk about it." He immediately gets the message and backs off for now. If I wasn't a Hunter, the demon wouldn't of been there in the first place. But I am. And I have a war to stop.

 "Come on. It's time for food. And the others need to talk to you." Adrian states, pullin me off my bed. Great. I need to deal with this now.

Following Adrian out of my room, I go to the canteen with him. The same place where all the events of the day started. It seems fit that they finish here. Walking over to the same secluded table as this morning, I sit down with the others. Everyone has a grim look on their faces. Nobody wants to talk about it but we all know we have to. I notice Shane, Tyler and Jacob are back from the cabin. They, along with Emily and I, are the only ones who have seen the bodies I think. The others may have seen them while I slept. I don't know.

"Let's just get this started shall we?" I start, trying to get the ball rolling on this right now. Just so I can finish this sooner.

They all nod and Tyler begins to talk. "Dean and Sam have taken the bodies to the Elders. We sent pictures of the three... dhampirs... to Sydney to find out who they are and to see if anything is wrong with the whole thing." Tyler says.

"Wrong? They killed their own people. This whole thing is wrong. You know what we saw." Jacob whispers to his brother.

"Saw what?" I ask the two twins. What did they see? Was there something else?

"The bodies were shot from behind. You guys must of missed it, you know... under the circumstances." Jacob replies.

"So they did kill three of their own just so they could blame us." Everybody could hear the anger, hatred and disgust in my voice. It's not like I hid it. Why would I? These people get worse every day. Sometimes I think Adrian's the only decent one there is. I hope I'm wrong.

"Yeah. Looks like it." Shane says before exchanging glances with the others. "The Elders say we need to track the movements of the Moroi and dhampirs much more closely. Truthfully, the only way would be for us to have someone on the inside. So we might need to think about that." 

"Okay. We'll sort it. But first. Vampires. They will be here either late tomorrow or early the day after. Let's do that first. It's bound to make matters even more confusing anyway." Everyone nods. I don't want to talk right now. I'm too tired. And I want this to be finished. Sometimes I think it would be a shame if the war went full scale. But other times, I think we'd be doing the world a favour.

"The Elders also told us that Adrian is now under their protection. They want to protect one of their most valuable assets. As the only Moroi that's on our side that we know of, we can't let him get hurt." It seems everyone already knows. It's understandable. I would of done the same thing in all honesty. It's about time really.

"Fine. I need to go. Need to sort my head out for tomorrow."

"Yeah. Sure." Eddie says. Then I walk off out of the canteen and rapidly make my way to the dhampir dorms. I need to be stronger. With everything going on I'll have to be. I can't handle this but I have no choice. I quickly move through the hordes of Moroi and dhampirs who are all muttering about how unfair this injustice is. They should see the bodies themselves. At least we don't kill our own kind.

I keep my head down and don't realise until it's too late that I bump into someone and fall to the hard ground. Well, nearly fall to the ground. I'm caught before I actually make contact with the concrete underneath and I'm quickly pulled up by a dhampir. I look up and I'm met with glistening chocolate brown eyes. The ones that make my heart break everytime I think of them. Dimitri.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has read my story. It's also on deviantart under the name AsgardianDragonRider and on fanfiction.net under the same name. I also have a new story written by me and my friends. It's a Doctor Who/Marvel crossover called The Time of The Dragon Riders. Please read and review both stories. Thanks :)


	9. Chapter 8-Interrogating the Vampires

**Chapter 8-Interrogating the Vampires**

I look up and meet his chocolate brown eyes that are looking down at me with such a large array of emotions going through his aura that I can't let myself look at it. I try to look away but he grabs my chin with his soft hands and pulls me to look straight at him. He keeps glancing down from my eyes to my lips and I know what he wants to do. But he can't. There are people all around and a scandal like this could threaten his status as a guardian. One of the many reasons why I shouldn't let myself love him.

"Roza." That name. The name he has given me. But it's not my name. It just reminds me of all the reasons why I shouldn't be with him. He doesn't know me. Not really. Doesn't know what I've done. If he did, he'd be disgusted. "Are you okay? I was so worried. I couldn't find you. Where were you?" He says with a deep affection that breaks my already torn heart. I have to do something. How will I get him to move on? I'm trying to save him from the toxicity that is a Hunter.

"I'm fine. Not that it concerns you." I see him cringe right in front of my eyes.

"Roza. What's wrong with you?" Why doesn't he get it? Does he have to be so persistent? "Is it the Hunters? Did they hurt you?" That was the wrong thing to say. They always go straight to blaming us. If they knew the truth they wouldn't be saying any of this. I want to tell him the truth. But I can't. I don't think he can ever know the truth.

While I'm deep in thought I nearly miss him slowly leaning down to kiss me. I want to. So badly. This is not fair. But I have to push him away. Pushing his strong chest away from me, I move out of his arms and step away before going back in the direction of my dorm. He calls after me and tries to grab my wrist but I wrench free from his iron hard grip each time. Walking away he keeps trying to pull me back to him. Saying he loves me. No-one's around so he won't be heard but his carelessness right now could lose him everything.

"Don't you get it? I don't love you. I never did. It was all a game." Please, Dimitri, believe me. This is for you. "It never meant anything to me. You never meant anything to me." There I said it. He has to believe it. I don't know what else to do.

Looking at his aura, my heart shreds it's final pieces. Depression and sadness and despair and countless other emotions like it surround his aura. But I don't need to see his aura to know that. They are displayed plain on his face for anyone to see. Why do I have to keep hurting him?

"Fine." He says with a finality I've never heard in his voice. "I'm done. You obviously don't care so why should I? I won't talk to you again. I won't worry about you again. I won't even think about you again. I can't believe I'm in love with YOU! You are everything people say you are. You really are just a child." And with that he walks away. I didn't expect that but at least he will back off and hopefully move on. Even though a part of me doesn't want him too. It's about time. Now, I don't have to worry about Dimitri. Hell! Who am I kidding? I'll always worry about him.

Turning away I walk to my dorm and quickly fall asleep. Hopefully tomorrow isn't like today...

* * *

Today's the day. The vampires will be here soon and we will have a lot of work ahead of us. Coming from my last lesson of the day, I walk to Eddie who is talking to Shane about something. Probably all the problems we have at the moment.

"Hey guys. How's it going?" I ask with a strange happiness to me. Mostly because once the vampires are out of the way I can concentrate on other stuff.

"Fine." Eddie says smiling. "Have you seen Dashkov yet?" His voice takes a somber tone. I haven't seen Dashkov yet. I thought he would of tried to talk to me in all seriousness but surprisingly he hasn't. I have seen Lissa though. She didn't seem happy. Slightly if not terribly embarrassed.I wonder why?

"No. I haven't seen him. What's going on tonight then?" I ask.

"We will all meet in the cabin not long after curfew but one or two of us should be there before that just in case. You need to go because you can sense them and I'll go with you while Shane covers for us." Eddie says. Wow! He's thought this out. Good plan. It does make sense though. I'm the only one who can sense others.

"I'll cover for you but what will we tell Mason. He's starting to get to close. We will have to tell him something. But I don't know what." Shane admits.

"What do you mean he's getting close?" I ask. I had no idea.

"He keeps asking where we're going and has tried following us a few times. Maybe we need to tell him to back off or you could compel him." Eddie announces.

"Or we tell him." I say reluctantly.

"NO!" Both of them say rapidly. Yeah. That was a bad idea. If we tell him now, he'll try to kill us. But we need to tell someone.

"We need to tell someone. So who? You heard what the Elders told us. As much people as we can but be careful who we pick." I repeat what the Elders told us earlier.

"I know. That can wait though. Vampires first." Shane admits.

"Right. Then we should go, Charlie." Eddie says grinning from ear to ear. "Finally some action." We all laugh. 

Leaving Shane to go cover for us, Eddie and I run to the forest but making sure no-one sees us. We start to run full speed after a while and we start laughing full hearty laughs whilst jumping large roots sticking out of the ground and dodging the high pillars of trees in front of us. He starts challenging me to a race, first one to the cabin wins. What an idiot. I agree to the terms but he forgets that I have a secret up my sleeve.

"Woo hoo!" I scream while Toothless picks me up from behind. Swinging me up to his back, we speed away to the cabin, way ahead of Eddie in seconds. It's handy having a night-fury. A blur of black scales rushing between the trees. We quickly end up outside the cabin and I know we'll have about 10 minutes till Eddie reaches us. So after I check the vampires aren't here, Toothless and I decide to have a quick swim in the lake. He pushes me in and then quickly jumps into the glistening blue water after me. "Toothless. Stop it!" I say while he splashes me with large waves from his tail swishing in the water. He falls backwards into the water and pulls me with him. Even though fire is our element, we love the water. Swimming is our favorite thing to do together, after flying, hunting and dragon-ball, one of my people's favorite sports. Imagine quidditch but with dragons! 

"Thanks for that Charlie." Eddie says once he reaches the clearing. "Sense anything?"

"No. Not yet. But they're not far off. I can sense them slightly. What time is it?" They'll be here soon. That I know.

"8:30. Curfew's just started. The others should be here soon." Eddie says right on time for a certain text message.

**From:Shane**

**To:Eddie, Clary**

**_Can't get there. Guardians literally checking on us every 10 minutes. You're on your own._  
**

"Oh shit! They'll know we aren't there. This is because of the 'attack'. What are we going to do?" Eddie says, trying to think of a solution.

 _Guys. Ideas. Eddie and I need to be here for the vampires._ I ask the others.

Emily- _I don't know._

Eddie- _What exactly is going on?_ Yeah. Exactly what is happening?

Tyler- _All guardians and teachers are doing rotas. Every ten minutes or so they will check if we are in our rooms._

_Seriously. They are bound to find out we're gone._

Adrian- _Not necessarily._

_Carry on._

Adrian- _Well, you could always double cross them._

Shane- _What do you mean?_

Adrian- _Just pretend you're there. Put some pillows under your bed and make it look realistic._

Scott- _Best chance you got._ _  
_

Adrian- _I've already compelled them to not pay much attention to all of us. Precautions, you know._

_Genius. You are a fucking genius Adrian._

Adrian- _Thank you. It has been known to happen._

Eddie- _Great. That's sorted now, we'll go hunt some vampires. If you can think of a way to get here. You too Adrian. You need to see this._

Jacob- _You will keep them alive till morning right?_

_Yeah. We need to get as much info as we can, so we might have to._

Scott- _Okay. You go hunt. We'll handle things here._

Eddie, Toothless and I go to the cabin to wait for them to come near and to do some last minute preparations. We all get the dead man's blood ready and sort out our weapons. We aren't going to kill them just yet so we need the dead blood to weaken them. A few hours later and it's about 1 in the morning, Moroi time. Suddenly, I can sense 5 vampires coming towards us.

"They're here." I tell Eddie. We both gather our weapons and I hop on Toothless while Eddie sprouts his large wings and shoots upwards into the sky. As a Seraphim, he can fly and have wings as well as other stuff. He doesn't usually get to show off his wings because we're here but on the rare occasions he does, it takes a loooong time to get him to come back.

Flying to about a mile away from them, Eddie and I split up to cut off their route from all sides. I can sense them much stronger now. They are running. Five of them in total. Toothless swoops down and I get my bow and arrows tipped with the blood ready at hand. I swiftly jump off of Toothless and land right in front of the vampires. They jump back in surprise.

"Hello. Welcome to your deaths." I say with a smirk on my lips.

"Hunters!" They hiss. "What are you doing here?" So they don't know. That's even better.

"I could ask you the same thing." They try to go around me but I quickly cut them off with a ball of fire in their direction.

"Let me guess. Drakon." They say with disgust. Our kinds don't get on very well, you know, because we hunt them down and exterminate them like rats.

"Nope. Psi-Drakon." Toothless swoops in then when they try to run again. Jumping back in surprise at the night-fury in front of them. With looks of determination, the five vampires suddenly jump at us. Three at Toothless and two at me. They all launch themselves at us and we quickly hit them back a few steps. After a few failed attempts at taking us down, they try to run but are cut off once again by a man with large wings floating down from the sky. Eddie. About time he got here.

"Seraphim." They say hardening their eyes at him.

"Well done." Eddie says while clapping his hands mockingly at them. One thing that we both love is making vampires get pissed off. It's so easy sometimes. They instantly go for all three of us only to be pushed back into the centre of the circle we have now formed around them. "Why don't we just take these vampires out, Charlie?" Eddie asks mocking seriousness.

"Let's do it." And then we all pounce on the vampires. A fight starts to brew. Punches and kicks are thrown. I move away from the vampires and the fight that's taking place to have more space while I shoot each of these vampiric pricks with my arrows. Swiftly I pull out an arrow dripping with dead man's blood and lodge right above the heart of one of the vampires. Immediately I do the same to another three leaving only the alpha alone. He stands in the middle of the forest, four vampires which are most likely from his nest to his left, the last night-fury behind him, and two Hunters on either side of him. He's cut off from every direction. 

"Eddie. Let me take this one." I say whilst looking at the vampire with a manic look in my eyes.

"Go for it." He says and I take that as my cue to jump straight onto the vampire and round-house kick him in the chest. He stumbles back and hits the tree behind him and I quickly take my knife out of it's sheath and stab him in his stomach with a hard and powerful jab. He grunts and falls to the floor. Thankfully, this won't kill him but will make him very weak.

"Come on then. Let's get them to the cabin." We all pick up the vampires and carry them back to the cabin. Eddie unleashes his large avian wings and carries two vampires into the air while I strap the other three including the alpha onto Toothless. We speedily take off and head to the cabin. We waste no time in strapping the vampires to the chairs and wrapping them all in chains soaked with dead man's blood.

 _Got the vampires._ I tell the others.

Scott- _We can't get there. Guardians everywhere._

_No problem._

They'll have to wait till tomorrow to see the vampires. In the meantime, Eddie and I will just have to torture them. Toothless stands guard outside while Eddie pumps in dead man's blood into their systems slowly so it lasts longer. 

"You gonna start anytime soon?" Eddie asks. I nod to say yes while I get out my knives. This is gonna be painful.

I walk up to them all with my knife in my hand and slowly cut into their hearts. I then get the blood and leak it into their systems, making the process extremely painful.

"Is that all you got?" One of the vampires say. A short man with blazing blonde hair and hazel eyes. He looks at me with a hatred that seems so much more personal.

"What have you done to Ally?" He asks. Ally? Who's Ally? She isn't the vampire that I killed is she?

"Was she the vampire that you sent ahead?" I ask with a sudden interest that I know will wind him up. He knows I have seen her. 

"So you do know her?" He says hissing. "What did you do?" He must be her mate.

"I killed her." At that he starts thrashing around. "I wouldn't do that if I was you." I warn him. 

"Make me." He then starts screaming so loud I think my ears hurt. I use Spirit to give him the most excruciating pain possible. His brain is having multiple aneurysms which I heal straight away and his heart is beating so loudly that I can hear it through his chest. In turn all vampires are given the same treatment whilst being pumped full of poison. 

"Tell me everything." I say with a bit of compulsion thrown into the mix. Vampires aren't as easy to compell as other creatures and usually have to be incredibly weak before responding to the compulsion. "Why are you going to the Moroi?"

"To kill them. Their Strigoi think they are so high and mighty. They don't even know about us." That's true. It's not just the Moroi and dhampirs we have kept in the dark about everything in the world. If the Strigoi knew they would try and use it to their own benefit. Even though they couldn't because out of all the supernatural creatures we hunt, they are one of the weakest there is. "We were going to show them what else is out there. And make them live in so much fear that Strigoi will seem like puppies to us. We are ridding the world of you. Hunters, Elementals, Moroi, Dhampirs and humans. They were our orders. Something is coming. Something big and even you Hunters and Elementals can't stop it." The alpha vampire responds. He's a tall man with brown but greying hair and deep grey eyes. What does that mean? Something is coming?

"What's coming?" Eddie asks the alpha vampire.

"The end." He says before they all start laughing. The end? What the fuck? Shit. More problems. Can't I get a break?

"What else? Tell me or I will make you feel pain so impossible that you will beg me to kill you." I say in a low voice. I see the vampire flinch at my tone and the look of pure evil in my eyes right now. The darkness is starting to take over again. I can control it. I can. I have no choice. I have to. 

"Academies like this one will be attacked in due course. This was just the first. There are more on their way in time. And not just vampires. Every monster there is will come here and destroy you. But what are _you_ doing here?" The alpha asks.

"Don't answer them." Eddie says. I nod in his direction.

"You have no chance." One of the vampires say. I look at Eddie and he understands what I want him to do. He gathers up his knives and starts cutting the vampires and then poisoning them with dead man's blood. They all scream out and I leave Eddie to the torturing while I go check on Toothless. He's lying on the front porch of the cabin when I see him. I go to sit next to him and he immediately puts his head in my lap.

"Hey boy." I say with a tired voice. "Have you heard? Something's coming. I mean, seriously, can't I get a break. And other academies will be attacked. That's just great." Shaking my head in annoyance, Toothless burrows his head deeper into my lap. "Come on. Let's go for a ride." At that he jumps up off the floor. He loves flying. It's so exhilarating. The feeling you get. Pure freedom.

After I tell Eddie that we are going for a while I climb onto Toothless's leather saddle and he shoots off into the bright blue sky. For Moroi and dhampirs, this is night time but for us it's day. We climb higher into the large fluffy clouds so no-one can see us. Toothless slows down and settles into a lazy glide across the white clouds. "This is it boy. This is life." I say in a dreamy voice. I love gliding. Feeling the wind against my face. Gaius, my teacher used to say something about the wind. 'The wind is like emotions, Clary. You can feel it but you can't see it.' He'd say almost every time we flew with our dragons. I never understood it then but I do now. Flying like this. With your dragons in the middle of the elements themselves. It's an experience that most never get to understand. Most dragon riders don't ever find their own dragon. The dragon that understands you deeper than anyone else will ever. It's a bond that reaches to the foundations of the earth.

I don't even want to think of my life if my Dad had never saved Toothless from that demon. I hate the fact that I don't get to spend as much time with him as I used to. Hopefully we can make some time once this is all done.

* * *

After a few hours we don't get anymore information out of the vampires. We would kill them now but we need to show Adrian these creatures so he can understand what exactly my kind is up against on a daily basis. Toothless and I came back from flying a few hours ago and we've been trying to get more information for 5 hours now. The time is about 6:00 pm at the moment. The Moroi and dhampirs will be waking soon so the others will be able to get here. Eddie goes outside to call the others and see when exactly they'll get here while I try for any new information. It seems though that they don't know anything else.

"It's about 10 minutes until breakfast so they'll be able to get here soon. They said they'd get us some food first though." Eddie says once he's back in the cabin.

"Okay. I'll go meet them and you stay here with the vampires." I say, glancing at the weak vampires in the middle of the cabin.

"Sure. See you in a bit." 

Toothless and I fly to the edge of the forest and climb the trees so we can get a better view from the canopy. Luckily these branches are large and thick so Toothless can get up here without breaking the tree. From up here I can see the Moroi and dhampirs. A bunch of novices shouting about how they want to kill all of us. Really. They have no chance. If a guardian has trouble killing us then the novices will have absolutely no chance. 

I can see all the novices from my year in the midst of the group, leading the charge of insults at Hunters and Elementals. I can also see Shane, Tyler and Jacob get pulled into the drama from my vantage point and Scott, Emily and Adrian walking past towards the trees. Shane and the others quickly get away after agreeing with all that they are saying. I know how hard that is. Every time there is new news about us, there is an onslaught of madness from everyone. The whole academy gets pulled into the drama and it's like a festival of hatred towards my people.

I jump down from the tree and land behind the others. Adrian jumps back in surprise while the others just turn around casually like they are used to me jumping from trees. Which they are. Then out of nowhere they all start running at full speed, leaving only me and Adrian alone with Toothless.

"How are we going to catch up now?" Adrian asks. He starts walking towards the same direction they all fled in. He's an idiot. He does realize I have a dragon right?

Toothless and I quickly take off and carry Adrian by his arms like when we first flew together. It seems like months ago now when in truth it was only a few days ago. He screams at first but once he understands what's happening he comes to his senses and calms down he's fine. I grab his arm and pull him up. Deja vu. I did that the first time he flew as well. In record time we reach the cabin after passing the others and flying past them in a blur.

"Adrian. Now I have to warn you. These are vampires. Be careful." I say.

"I know, Little Hunter. Don't worry. I've got you to protect me." He says, smirking. We walk into the cabin and I can see Adrian physically recoil. I knew he wouldn't like it but he needs to see it. The vampires look at him and the alpha smiles a threatening grin before unleashing their fangs and showing the true monsters behind the masks.

"Moroi." He says in a way that sends chills down your spine.

"Don't worry they won't bite you. You're Moroi." I assure Adrian. And they are chained up to the chairs. They won't get out of that.

"Disgusting blood." The alpha says. The other vampires have been quiet and the alpha is the one who has taken control. That's how it usually happens when we have the whole nest.

"Look. Adrian. You need to see this. These vampires. So you can understand."

"Yeah. I get it. When are you going to kill them?" He asks with a scared look on his face. 

"We'll do it now. Then you and Eddie can fill us in." Tyler says when he and the others walk into the cabin.

"Sure. Come on Adrian. You don't want to see this." I say whilst grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the front door.

"No. I need to see this. You said so yourself." Not this. Not yet. But he's right. If he wants to help he needs to see what we do. What our life entails. This has to happen.

"Okay." I say to him. I don't fight him on this. I tried to save him from the horrors we are accustomed to as children but if he is on our side I can't hide this from him for any longer. He was bound to see this soon. The guys all grab the machetes in the corner and quickly cut off the heads of the vampires. One for each of them. Adrian recoils and I swear he's going to be sick for a second. He then walks out while Emily and Scott clean up the blood all over the floor. We'll burn the bodies after we fill everyone in on the news.

About ten or so minutes later and everyone is outside. Eddie and I need to fill them in on what we found before telling the Elders. "Right so. What did you find?" Jacob says getting straight to the point.

"Well. Apparently this was only the first academy to be attacked. Or tried anyway. They said it was because they were told to. They didn't say or know who. Just that their orders were to attack. They said there will be more monsters on their way. Not just vampires but it sounds as if it's in the near future." I tell them.

"They also said something is coming. Something we can't stop." Eddie announces to the others.

"Anything else?" Scott asks.

"No. That was it. Just that the Moroi are the first to be attacked. They didn't know why. Orders, they said. Something's not right." I think the last part out loud. I'm sure that the others are all thinking the same thing.

"Have you told the Elders?" Emily asks.

"No. But I will now." 

"It would be better if you went in person. This situation right now needs it." Jacob advises. He's right. It seems as if we are going to be taking a trip to the Elders.

"You're right. I'll go." I say.

"We'll cover for you. There's no lessons today so it'll be easier." Emily tells me.

"You should take Adrian with you. It would be good for him." Shane says. 

"That's a great idea, Shane. Let's get going!" Adrian exclaims in joy. He must be excited to see everything in real life and not just in a spirit dream.

"Sure. But we should go now. We'll take Toothless. Eddie, Shane. You two should patrol the borders of the academy from the air. Use your wings. The rest of you just cover for us and anything suspicious, find out what it is and sort it."

"Will do." And with that they all leave. Eddie and Shane sprout their wings, Eddie's feathery and a light brown colour and Shane's the same as a dragon's. The others go back to the academy and Adrian and I get onto Toothless's saddle and shoot up into the sky.

"Where to then?" Adrian asks.

"To the Elders in the US." I vaguely say.

"And where's that?" He asks trying to find out everything.

"Seattle..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has read my story. Please leave a comment. :)


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has read my story so far. Love the reviews. I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long but I have literally had so much school work and tests so I haven't had much time to write but hopefully over the holidays I'll update more.
> 
> Also, to Kelly, who asked for Dimitri's POV for the starting scene of the previous chapter, here it is. I just loved the idea and had to write it straight away so the credit goes to you. I have never written from Dimitri's POV before so please tell me what you think of it. It would help a lot. Here it is.

 

**DPOV**

I didn't think that I could ever have such a hatred for someone. But these Hunters are evil. Like Strigoi they should be hunted to extinction. Thank God the Moroi government have brought this change forward. It will give the novices a lot of help if they can have some real life experience before they graduate. At the moment they don't realise how dangerous it is. These Hunters and Elementals are more of a threat towards us than the Strigoi are. One of them can do more damage than a 100 Strigoi. I just hope we aren't too late.

When those first few shots went off earlier, my mind went into panic mode. All I could think of was her. My Roza. If anything happened to her I don't know what I'd do. But I couldn't see her. Couldn't find her in the midst of the ensuing panic. Only Princess Vassilissa. So I went to protect her hoping Roza would be near. I know they aren't friends at the moment but she'd still risk her life for the princess.

Roza..I see her walking to her dorm. She looks extremely stressed and tired. Has she not been sleeping? Is something wrong with her? She hasn't been herself since she came back from New York. I miss her. So much. Every time I've tried to talk to her has ended up in an argument. She keeps telling me that she doesn't love me. But I know that's not true.

I see it in the way she looks at me when I tell her. The way she lets her guard down fully when she's around me. Something she only does with me. And when she leans in on the rare occasions I try to kiss her. Like in the gym a few days ago. She leaned in, even though she might not have known it. My heart skipped a beat then. She can't keep this up for long. Finally I've realized that I'll do anything to be with her. I can't lose her now.

The first time I saw her after her trip away was so enlightening. When she left I didn't know what to do. I attacked people, just because they might have known where she was. I went crazy. But, I guess that's what love does to you. Then she told me she didn't love me and I broke. My heart tore in half, one part with me, lonely and depressed, and the other with her, the beauty that she is. I know it's wrong but I can't help it. I love her with everything I have. And I know she loves me too. I just don't know what's changed.

She's walking right to me but she doesn't look up. Something's wrong. I can feel it. I always know when something is wrong with my Roza. I don't remember when she became my Roza. I guess she always was. From the second I first saw her I knew that she wasn't going to be easy, I knew she would always have a hold on me and my heart.

Roza walks straight into me and starts to fall to the hard ground but I catch her right in time. I'll always catch her. Looking up straight into my eyes, I swear I see the same look she would give me every time she saw me but it's gone so quick that I can't be sure. She seems startled. Rapidly, Roza tries to look away from me but my strong hands hurriedly grab her chin. My thumb strokes her smooth tan skin and I look into her dark brown eyes and I know that she can tell what I'm feeling right now through mine. I can't help but glance down to her full lips and back to her eyes over and over again. I want to kiss her. No. I need to kiss her. I need her. Every part of her. Without her I'm not whole. She carries a part of my soul with her.

"Roza. Are you okay? I was so worried. I couldn't find you. Where were you?" I ask her with a frantic voice. If anything happened to her I don't know what I would do.

"I'm fine not that it concerns you." She says to me and I outwardly cringe. Her voice is cold and harsh, all emotion, gone. Since when has she been able to act so cold. Oh yeah, since New York. What happened there? Something's not right. I need to find out what's wrong so I can help my Roza.

"Roza. What's wrong with you? Is it the Hunters? Did they hurt you?" The second I mention the Hunters she becomes distant. Did they do something to her? Although, come to think about it, she always seems distant when it comes to them. I don't blame her though. I've seen a few guardians and Moroi who seem distant when it comes to these monsters.

For a few minutes she doesn't answer me. But she still has that same distant look in her eyes. I don't even notice when I start to lean towards her lips and when I do, I don't stop. All of a sudden she realizes what's happening and pushes me away from her with surprising strength. Stepping away from me, she turns towards her dorm.

I try to grab her wrist but she slips from my grip. Every time I shout her name she ignores me. I don't care that I could be making a scene. I love her. And I don't care who knows. "Roza, please. I love you." I shout over and over again but she doesn't hear me. Can't she see that she's breaking my heart?

"Don't you get it? I don't love you. I never did. It was all a game. It never meant anything to me. You never meant anything to me." And with that my heart explodes. She's said it so many times now. Why don't I believe her? The way she says it is with such determination that this time I can't seem to convince myself that it's a lie. Her eyes tell me something I can't make out. But I can't see any love, not even affection in her sturdy and hard gaze.

"Fine. I'm done. You obviously don't care so why should I?" I say screaming at her. She keeps breaking my heart and I can't do it anymore. I love her. I do. But she doesn't love me. I see that now. "I won't talk to you again. I won't worry about you again. I won't even think about you again. I can't believe I'm in love with YOU! You are everything people say you are. You really are just a child." With that I walk away. I never thought I could say that to her. Everything I thought she was, was a lie. She's not selfless or brave. She's just what people say she is. I don't want to love her anymore. But I can't stop. I will never stop worrying about her or thinking about her. She's in my thoughts every second of every day. I try to stop the tears from falling freely down, my face but I can't stop it. When the love of your life tells you that she doesn't care for you, you'll cry. I wish my Roza would come back. The Roza I fell in love with. The Roza I'm still in love with. I need her back. But I can't.

**Clary's POV**

**Chapter 9-Mount Zavno**

We've been shooting through the air for close to an hour and we are, now, closing in on our destination when Adrian finally speaks up.

"Seattle?" He asks. He's been quiet for the whole trip. When I checked his thoughts he was wondering why Seattle was where we had chosen.

"Yes. Seattle." I reply vaguely.

"But... why? Surely, you'd want to be in the middle of a large forest or on top of Everest or somewhere...you know... remote. Not in the middle of a city like Seattle." He's shocked. Truth be told, it's not the first place you'd think of when you think of a supernatural species hiding from species of vampire would be.

"Well, it's not exactly in Seattle. It's about 200 miles out of the bay of Seattle but it's still there. Slightly." I say slowly, making sure he hears what I'm saying.

"200 miles? Now, that makes sense. But what's out 200 miles away from Seattle?" He asks, curiosity taking over him.

"An island. About half the size of Seattle. It's hidden by some Spirit magic as well as a few supernatural tricks."

"What do you mean it's hidden?" He asks, tilting his head to the side.

"No-one can get there unless they know it's there or they are a Hunter or Elemental." I tell him just as a large mountain starts to come into view. "And that's the place. Adrian, welcome to Mount Zavno." I say and Toothless quickly speeds up to reach the fields at the island's edge. We are greeted by a number of people who are working down by the dock's of the island.

"Welcome back, Charlie." A young blonde girl, about 12 or 13 says running up to me. I can't see her face properly but I'm sure I've heard her voice before. Is that...?

"Hazel! How are you?" I say once she reaches me and throws her arms around me for a hug. Her big hazel eyes look up to me with a sisterly affection. Hazel was like the sister I never had, after Lissa of course.

"I'm great. The Elders sent me to come and get you. They said it's urgent." She quickly says. She's talking so fast I can barely understand what she's saying. Then she slowly turns around and points to Adrian as she whispers, "Who's that? Is he the Moroi?"

"Hazel," I say leading her towards where Adrian is currently standing awkwardly. "This is Adrian Ivashkov. He's the Moroi that's helping us. Adrian, this is Hazel Kersey." I introduce the two and they immediately relax with each other's presence.

"Nice to meet you Hazel." Adrian says with a grin.

"You too, Adrian. Come on, the Elders want to talk to you." We hurry to make our way to the Elders council room. We go down the many corridors that we have built deep into the mountain and stop at a large dark oak door at the end of the hall. The door is adorned with many patterns and symbols. Dragons are painted in white paint at the bottom of the door and symbols against demons like a devil's trap are all over the top half. We wait until someone calls from the other side of the door to be let in.

"You may come in now Clary and Adrian." Someone says from the inside in such a casual way as if we were long time friends. "Hazel. Go get Gaius. He'll want to be informed later." The man from inside the room says and Hazel runs off back down the hall waving a quick goodbye. Adrian and I both push the large wooden doors and step into the giant stone room. We walk down to the center of the room where we are then surrounded by 10 or so council members as well as an alchemist or two. Walking into this room, I can see the Elders sitting above us like a judge would in court.

"State your names, race and intentions." One of the Elders in the front say. Even though they all know me as they have all taught me when I was younger, they still insist on being professional in the council chambers.

"My name is Clary Rosemarie Winchester, I am a Psi-Drakon Hunter. This is Adrian Ivashkov, he's a Moroi. We are both here to tell you of the news from the attempted vampire attack on St Vladimir's academy." I say with a loud and clear voice.

"Please. Charlie, tell us of the news." Elder Craven, a man with long white hair and one of the three Elders that I brought into the spirit dream a few days ago, asks.

"The vampires were caught yesterday and proceeded to tell us that St Vladimir's was just the first academy to be attacked. In due course other academies will be attacked and not just by vampires. All manner of monsters will be involved. It also seems that someone else is in charge of the operation. They were receiving orders from someone else but they didn't know who. They also said something was coming. Something we can't stop. They called it ' The End'." I tell them quickly. Not missing any information that we got.

"We'll gather around a team of five for each academy so they can be protected but I can't stress this enough. The Moroi and Dhampirs must not know of what we are doing. They can't know about demons and werewolves and creatures like that just yet. We will send teams to find out more about what this thing is when they say 'something is coming'. Whatever this 'End' is, we need to stop it." Elder Craven announces to everyone in the room.

"All agreed." An Elder behind us shouts and then bangs a gavel down to show the discussion has ended for now. That's one thing I love about the Elders. They don't take long with things of high importance whereas the Moroi and dhampirs take months and numerous amounts of meetings to sort out something.

"Now. The attack and dhampir bodies. The alchemist, Sydney Sage, has found the identities of the three young dhampirs and the bodies have been buried in their home towns. But the reasons behind it aren't, as of yet, discovered. It also seems that the dhampirs are taking a more direct approach. The amount of attacks we have received have almost quadrupled and the first dhampir novices will be going out onto the field in two months. We need you two to start convincing people to take your side." Elder Acker announces, another Elder who was in the spirit dream.

"You should do this slowly of course. We don't want too many yet but a few will do a major difference. Choose people close to you or people who don't act in the same way to news of us as the majority of people do. Important Moroi would be helpful. Vassilissa Dragomir, for one, but I understand that she is not close to you at the moment. Am I right, Clary?" I nod to the Elder who asked the question. "Your bond mate is blocking you and it is your duty to make sure she is fine or otherwise you should rid yourself of that duty and break the bond. It is your choice. You know how." He says. I look at Adrian and his eyes are bulging out of his head.

"I'll explain later." I say to him. He doesn't know that it is possible to break the bond yet but it is also extremely dangerous. I turn to the council and state, "My team and I will do as you ask. We shall choose carefully. I can guarantee you that."

Elder Craven then speaks up and tells me, "You are in charge of the operation with the academies, Clary. Go to Gaius, Sydney will be there with the teams she has chosen already. Inform them of the threat and advise on how the teams should be careful. You have experience in the matter and tell them of the precautions you and your team take." So I'm in charge of this. Great. Just what I need.

"Is that all?" The Elder asks to the rest of the council members and both I and Adrian. "Dismissed." He announces when no-one answers and immediately all the Elders file out in a quick and orderly manner. Adrian and I turn then to go to Gaius who should be outside the door if Hazel got to him in time. We open the large doors and surely, Gaius and Hazel are there, waiting for us to talk.

"Gaius. I've missed you." I say whilst bringing him into a hug. "Come on. We should talk in your study. Less distractions." With that and a few greetings between the four of us. We all make our way to Gaius's study which is over the water at the far end of the island, right next to the dragon's rookery, where we raise baby dragons.

"Sydney. Hi. How are you?" I say to the alchemist who is currently patting Toothless's head. She stands up and makes her way to me to greet me with a welcoming hug.

"I'm fine. How are you?" She asks with soft brown eyes.

"Great. Well, as great as can be. Oh, Sydney, this is Adrian Ivashkov. The Moroi I told you about." I ask, nodding over at Adrian who is standing in the middle of the room looking around excitedly.

"She's human?" He asks.

"Alchemist. Remember I told you they worked closely with us." I say, trying to remind him of when we spoke a few days ago when he found out. I can't believe it was only that long ago.

"So. What's happening?" Sydney says, gesturing for us all to sit down on the couch.

"Yes. Please explain, Charlie." Gaius says.

"Well. Basically, the vampires told us that they were working for someone, but even they don't know who. And St Vladimir's was only the first academy to be targeted. All the other Moroi and dhampir academies will be attacked in due time. Possibly in the near future, so we will send teams to each academy but they won't be students. They'll be secretly guarding the borders of the academy. Just past the wards. Sydney, you have them right?" I turn to Sydney, waiting for her answer.

"Nearly done, Charlie." She states.

"Good. The vampires also said something is coming. Something we can't stop. I have no idea as to what. But, for some reason, they are attacking the vamps and dhamps first." I tell them both. I can see them both trying to figure out why through their eyes as well as their auras.

"Vamps and dhamps?" Adrian asks suspiciously.

"Moroi and dhampirs. It's our nickname for you. Yeah. Anyway. I think there's more to it than that though. But that's about it. What's the news with the dhampir bodies?" I ask quickly, genuinely curious to find out.

"Well. I found out who they were. They were all from a certain academy. St Basil's in Russia." Sydney says, pulling out the files she made. St Basil's? That's the same academy as Dimitri went to. "Two of them were 19. Both unpromised guardians. The last sight of activity from them was in Novosibirsk about two weeks ago. We assumed they were taken by strigoi. That's what the records said anyway. Their names were Ivan Alkaev and Inna Kaminski. The third one was a girl called Alexandra Volkova. She was 15 years old and disappeared around two weeks ago in New York where her mother and sisters were visiting some family." 19 and 15. They weren't that old. Robbed from life. How can anyone do this? "All their bodies have been returned to their home towns and buried." Good. They deserve to rest in peace.

"Anything else?" I ask.

"They were shot in the back. It was, unfortunately, a slow and painful death. They obviously didn't want the wounds to be seen so they didn't shoot them anywhere too obvious." Fucking hell. What is going on with this whole thing? It keeps getting weirder every time we talk about it.

"So... Anything else?" I ask anticipating what's next.

"Nothing else. But we do have to sort out the teams." Sydney tells me.

"Of course."

Two hours later and Sydney has figured out all the teams for all the academies that teach the Moroi and dhampirs. All of them have gathered into their teams and are waiting patiently for my orders. Adrian and Sydney are by my side while the Elders are in the back of the grounds outside the training arena.

"That's a lot of people." Adrian says looking at the crowd in front of us.

"Well. Someone's got to do it. Most of them though are young and have just finished training." I say to him.

"But still... you're in charge of all this right?" He says looking at me, trying to gauge my reaction to the news. I nod my head at the statement.

Whistling at a high pitch, I quickly get the attention of the crowd in front of me. "Okay. Everybody listen up. You all know where you're going and you know of the situation and the reasons why we're doing this. So I won't repeat them. All news will come to me as I am in charge of this mission. You must find out as much as you can about this strange occurrence. I know this whole thing is fucking weird but this is what we need to be done." I say looking at everyone's faces to make sure they are listening. "You must not let the vamps or dhamps find out you are there. If they do... well. It depends on the situation. If just a few find out then... you must kidnap them and wait for my instructions. If it's a large group, then leave. Meet me at the cabin we use outside of St Vlad's. I know this isn't ideal but neither is the situation. Be careful and make sure nothing get's to those academies." I say in an authoritative tone.

They all leave then to get ready and go to their assigned academy. I turn to Adrian and Sydney and Sydney tells me she has to go back to the alchemists to tell them of the news but that she'll be in touch soon. After our goodbyes, she leaves with a group of Hunters and Adrian and I turn to where Toothless is playing with a few kids and Gaius is waiting for us.

"Clary, Adrian, be careful. Please. Something about this isn't right. And if you can, tell people the truth. Just be careful who. I have a feeling your visions will come into play soon." He tells us both.

"I think you're right, Gaius. If anything else happens I'll be sure to tell you." I tell him and quickly give him a hug. We both say our goodbyes and then Adrian and I walk to Toothless and are rapidly, on our way back to the academy. "Hey Toothless. How has your break been going? All those kids tire you out yet?" I ask with humour in my voice. He purrs back happily.

"I have a question." Adrian asks out of nowhere.

"When haven't you?" I say sarcastically.

"You said you'd tell me how to break the bond..." He says, whilst silently urging me to go on.

"It's simple really. Basically, the person who is shadow-kissed has to nearly die and I mean nearly die. Like seconds from death. The thing with that though is when you try it, most people die in the process. So you know, easy in theory but not in real life." I quickly say. I would break the bond. Hell, I've been tempted to do it so many times. But, I can't let her deal with the darkness on her own. She needs me.

"What about that battle then? From 500 years ago? You never told me about that?" He asks.

"Right. That. Well... That's a long story." I tell him.

"We have time." Adrian says. He's not going to let this go is he?

"Okay. Well, 500 years ago, there was a large battle of epic proportions. Before that, our species co-existed peacefully... Sort of. We never trusted your races fully. They had tried to overpower us many times in the past but we believed that from then on we would live in peace. Before the battle, we came to a treaty. We would help your people get rid of the Strigoi if they left us alone. And they did. For a month or so. At the time before the battle, Strigoi numbers were low. Like a hundred or so left. They were close to extinction. Largely, because of our efforts. But then, out of nowhere, Moroi and dhampirs attacked us. Our numbers decreased from around 4 million. Not very large compared to that of humans, Moroi or dhampirs but we still had more enemies at the time. Our numbers went from 4 million to less than 1 million over a week. We had no chance to fight back. We were already fighting a war with demons at the time. When the vamps and dhamps attacked us, we had no chance. Since then, our numbers have decreased even further. Nowadays there is less than 100,000 of us." I say in a quiet and guarded voice.

"That much? How is that possible?" Adrian asks with an unbelieving tone.

"Those times were an especially bad time for us. Demons were at dangerously high numbers and we didn't have the weapons or the technology we have today to fight them. We were still amazing fighters but in those days it was harder to hunt. Also, in those years were when humans, as a whole, knew about us. They knew all about ghosts and demons and whatever else is out there. We had to protect the humans much closely than we do today. Those were devastating years for my people. Our numbers still aren't recovering the way we hoped they would. Demon numbers have increased and monster numbers have increased while my people have died off, nearly going extinct."

"So this battle? What exactly happened?" Adrian says whilst putting an arm around me comfortingly.

"There was a message from your people saying you needed our help. The last Strigoi had somehow all been corralled into a certain area in Russia, and for some reason, the dhampirs and Moroi couldn't deal with it themselves. Looking back, it was obviously a trap. It's a shame we didn't realise that at the time." I say ashamed of my people's stupidity at the time. Only if they knew...

"So why don't you want us all dead?" Adrian asks the question that all Hunters and Elementals have asked at one time or another.

"Because. They were different times. Different people. Everybody deserves a second chance. We don't know why they did it. Just that they did. If we blame a whole species on the decisions of few then we are no better than the people who ordered our extinction." I say the words that the Elders had told us every time we asked that question.

"So what happened then?" Adrian asks skeptically.

"They attacked. Most of our people died. A lot of people were there seeing as those grounds were primary hunting grounds for large numbers of creatures. They then attacked us all over the world for over a week. After that we went into hiding. Over time, humans have forgotten about us except for certain families and alchemists. Dhampirs and Moroi, it seems, have also forgotten the battle, and are hunting us for no obvious reason instead." I say with my head held down. I don't want him to see the tears threatening to spill. After a few minutes I get my emotions under control and turn back to Adrian. "We need to tell more people Adrian. I want this war over. I want peace." I say with a new found determination in both me and Adrian.

"We will. We'll finish this. I swear." He tells me and we both turn to the sky. Silently planning the steps to end all this suffering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took me a while to write as I suffered from a bit of writer's block after the last one but the next one will hopefully be up soon. Please leave a comment and possibly any suggestions. I love to hear what you guys have to say. I will answer any questions you guys have and will hopefully update soon. :)


	11. Chapter 10-Not Everyone Agrees

**Chapter** **10-Not Everyone Agrees**

Adrian and I arrived back yesterday after taking a trip to Mount Zavno and telling the Elders of our discoveries when interrogating the vampires. Since then the both of us told the others of what happened and what Sydney found out about the dhampirs. I told them all about the teams of Hunters and Elementals being sent to Moroi and dhampir academies to stop any creatures from getting to the people there. We got back just before dinner yesterday and I had spent the rest of the day over the phone with Sydney to go over any problems that could arise from the teams outside the academies and how to solve them quickly.

At least I don't have the vampires to worry about anymore. No... but instead I get even more creatures coming to destroy the academies and the people inside. Great. With that as well as the end the vampires told us about, all the problems with Lissa, Viktor Dashkov in the school, and the war. Not even mentioning the fact that in a month, dhampir novices will be sent to hunt us for 'field experience'. I don't know how any of us are going to deal with this. At least Emily and Scott don't have to go out there with them, but seeing how Eddie, Shane, Tyler, Jacob and I are posing as dhampirs, we sort of don't have a choice. Unless we want to expose ourselves.

That reminds me. Lissa. I haven't talked to her in a week now. She hasn't said a word to me and has avoided me at every turn. Apparently her and Christian are still broken up and she is now best friends with all the Royal snobby Moroi. I just don't understand her sometimes. And the fact that she hasn't freaked out about Viktor either. I got a peek into the bond earlier and she seemed fine. Absolutely fine.

I should talk to her. Try to figure this out. I know there's no point. I won't be here after the school year has ended. I'll never see her again. But still... she is my bond mate. I need her as much as she needs me. So I should talk to her. Now.

Rapidly, I walk to the cafeteria where I can sense Lissa is currently sitting a table. Across the cafeteria, I see her platinum blonde hair sitting with Camille Conta and Aaron Badica as well as other royals. I vaguely notice Adrian and Christian in our little secluded corner sending Lissa evil looks into the back of her head that she somehow doesn't seem to notice.

I walk up behind her and I can see Adrian and Christian with confused looks on their faces at my actions.

_What are you doing Charlie? Why are you going to Lissa?_  I hear Adrian say through his mind.

_To talk. It should of happened a while ago. I need to sort this._ I tell him and confidently saunter up to Lissa and her brand new gang.

"Oh look. The blood whore's here. Hide your fangs." Jesse Zeklos says with a smirk causing the whole group, including Lissa, to laugh out loud. The small phrase already has people looking at us.

"Shut the fuck up Jesse." I tell him with an annoyed tone before turning to Lissa. I fucking hate Jesse. Self-pretentious spoilt Royal.

"Or what?" He says, interrupting me. I manage to ignore him and turn back to Lissa.

"Liss. We need to talk. Now." I tell her, trying to convey my urgency to sort this out.

"Uh. No thanks." She says to me without even looking at me. Coward. She can't even look at me. I'd be lying if I said that it didn't hurt.

"Don't waste your breath on her Rose. She's not worth it." I hear from behind me. Viktor Dashkov. I was starting to wonder when I'd see him around. I can see Lissa visibly shrink into herself at the sight of him. Is she still scared of him? No. That can't be it. Her aura doesn't suggest fear for him... more like humiliation. Why?

"No. We need to talk." I tell her sounding as confident as I can.

"Go away Rose. I don't want to talk to someone like you." She says with venom laced through her voice. Someone like me? Little bitch.

"Leave her alone Rose. She doesn't need a little slut like you following her around." A woman says from behind me. Her voice is spiking with hatred and I can feel it coming off of her in waves towards me. Turning around, I see Tasha Ozera standing behind me. Arms crossed and legs shoulder width apart, trying and failing to intimidate me. Please. I've fought demons. I will not let myself be scared of a Moroi.

"Come on Rose. I need to talk to you." Viktor says. I'll just have to talk to Lissa another time. When we're alone.

"Like hell." I tell him, narrowing my dark brown eyes at him before walking away to where Adrian and Christian are sitting.

What does Viktor want to talk about? Christian and Adrian keep looking at me sympathetically. I hate it.

"Stop looking at me like that." I snap at them both. "Sorry. I'm just pissed off." I tell them whilst putting my head into my hands and closing my eyes.

"Just ignore them Rose. Lissa isn't the girl we thought she was." Adrian says to me trying to get me to understand. Trying to get me to believe but I can tell that he doesn't believe himself. How does he expect me to believe him if he can't believe himself?

"But that's the thing. Two weeks ago everything was fine. Lissa was normal and with Christian. Everything was fine. Then I go to New York and I come back to... this. Things can't change that fast. Not like this." I ramble on to the both and I know just by looking into both of their eyes, Adrian's emerald green and Christian's ice-blue, that they agree.

"So what do we do?" Christian says. Hope is written all over his face. He misses Lissa. The Lissa he fell in love with.

"I don't know. I just don't know." I say to them before I feel myself being pulled deep into Spirit darkness. Not now. Not here. Shit. This can't be happening. Suddenly, voices start filling my head. Starting as whispers but turning into shouts within seconds. I know that I'm visibly wincing right now because I can hear Christian and Adrian asking me if I'm okay.

It's too much. The voices keep increasing, more whispers and shouts being added to the mix while I hear other people's voices. It hurts so much. I'd rather be set on fire than this. It's never been like this before. It usually builds up much slower than this but somehow I know this is just the start. It'll be awhile until I lose control.

"Fine. Just a really bad headache." I tell them through clenched teeth. Christian doesn't believe me but Adrian tells him to leave it. I think he knows that something is wrong. Something concerning Spirit. "I need to go lie down. I'm tired and need to rest. I'll be fine later." With that said, I quickly turn around and leave with my head down. I try to avoid the gazes of those around me. I can feel them burning into the back of my skull. Lissa, Tasha, the Royals, Guardians and students alike. From their thoughts I know it's because of the confrontation with Lissa a few minutes ago.

I walk out into the cold winter air and the cold hits me like a wave. I shudder where I'm standing and clench my fists to try and stop the pain. It doesn't work though and I have to just live through it. I dodge through the groups of Moroi and dhampirs, seemingly unnoticed by everyone around me. To them I probably just look like a dhampir novice rushing to get somewhere. If only they knew the pain I'm currently in.

I don't how long it takes me but I suddenly find myself in my dorm, leaning against the door and sliding down the hard surface trying to hold the tears in. I can feel Adrian trying to talk to me through my head but it just adds to the pain. Pulling my phone out, I text him to make sure he knows what's happening.

**From:Rose**

**To:Adrian**

**Hey. Sorry about that but I'm sort of losing control over my powers. Don't try and talk to me telepathically. It just adds to the pain. I'll be fine. It'll pass. I'll talk to you in the morning. Please don't come and see if i'm okay. I'm fine. Trust me. I just need to rest.**

I send him hoping no-one else see's the message but I'm probably just being paranoid. His reply is almost instant.

**From:Adrian**

**To:Rose**

**Okay. If anything changes tell me.**

I quickly switch my phone off. Not wanting to be interrupted right now. I try to go to sleep after a hot shower but nothing works. I even try to count sheep. It's useless so I just stay awake all night hoping the voices will leave before anything bad happens.

The next day comes and I'm still wide awake and being tormented by the thoughts of everyone withing a 50 mile radius at least. Why don't people just shut up? I feel hatred and love and anger and compassion filling me with all the thoughts. I can't help but be affected. Some thoughts show me just how great people are and they reinstate my determination to rid this world of all supernatural evil. But then there are the thoughts that are so dark, so filled with evil and rage that I can't help but fear people themselves. I hear the passion the Moroi and dhampirs have for the goal of my people becoming extinct and how some of them plan to kill us if they ever come across a Hunter or Elemental. I hear the thoughts of humans so evil that they deserve to be killed by ghosts or drained by vampires. It just reminds me that all the evil that we fight against, isn't as bad as what the people we protect are capable of.

I can't help but feel conflicted. It's at times like these where I doubt everything. Why we protect these people or why we don't just kill them all? We'd be saving ourselves a lot of grief that way. But it's the people who are selfless, brave, peaceful and caring that reaffirm my faith in humanity. In humans, Moroi and dhampirs. People who don't act the way I have come to expect from their species. Who don't want to hurt people in any way. But those people are rare and my faith is starting to diminish over time.

Sometimes I don't know what to do.

I put my clothes on and brush my hair before checking the time. 6:00 pm. But to everyone else here it's nearly morning. I quietly walk outside to go to the gym and beat away my pain with a punching bag. That's what I need right now. With my gym bag around my shoulders, I run to the gym where it is surprisingly quiet at the moment. I go to the lockers to get changed and make my way to the punching bag which is suspended from the roof.

With every ounce of strength I have I hit the bag. Over and over again. Trying to rid myself of the pain. It's usually gone by now. It's nearly as long as last time. Is this how it's going to be now? I'm just going to feel this pain without being able to stop it on a moments notice.

Every hit I give I can feel the punching bag coming loose from where it's suspended. My strength increases from the average dhampir strength I have to keep up to all the way to a full blown Hunter punch. The large blue bag falls to the floor with a large thud. I broke it. I fall to my knees where I can't help but keep on pounding the floor with my hands.

I feel myself shaking but it's not of my own accord. I see Eddie looking into my eyes with worry written across his face. "Clary. Are you okay?"

"It hurts. The voices. They hurt so bad Eddie." I tell him trying to not lose control. My resolve is strong at the moment but I can feel it slipping away, thread by thread.

"Okay. Let's get you to somewhere quiet. Where do you want to go?" He asks me whilst pulling me off of the floor and putting the bag back on it's chain.

"The church attic." I tell him and I don't know why but I feel I need to go there.

We make our way to the attic and sneak past any guardians on duty. We both plopped down onto the chairs and my head falls straight into my hands for a few seconds before pulling my head back up. Just moving my head feels like I'm being weighed down.

"Wanna talk?" Eddie asks.

"I lost control. I tried to talk to Lissa and then things happened and I started to hear everyone's thoughts and the pain. God. The pain is so much. I don't think I can do it anymore." I tell him and he puts his arms around me like Dean used to do when things got too much for me when I was a kid.

"Look. If anyone can do this it's you. Okay Charlie. I don't know anyone as strong as you. You will get through this. I swear." Eddie tells me, seriousness all over his face.

"Well. It's not like I have a choice. I can't help being shadowkissed." I say with a small smile on my face. He shakes his head while grinning. "I just. We need to tell people Eddie. And fast. But we need to be careful. We are only here for another few months. After that we might not have a choice. Who do we trust Eddie?" I tell him and all traces of happiness are gone.

"I don't know. I really don't. But this we can fight. You can fight this. Just try. You're strong." He says and I can't. It's not possible. Trust me I've tried.

"No, I can't. But I can deal with it. So that's what I'm going to do." I say standing up and steeling myself with a new found determination yet again. I can get through this. No matter how much it hurts.

So both I and Eddie walk to the cafeteria for breakfast. I must of been in the gym for a while then if it's already time for breakfast. We walk to our table in the corner which we have claimed as ours. I sit down with the others and explain to them that it's fine and tell them what's going on. I am determined today to sort things out. I'll talk to Lissa and figure out what Viktor wants.

I have to.

We have no classes today seeing as everyone is still on edge from the attack. Surely it would be easier to protect everyone if we were all in lessons instead of wandering around the academy but oh well. These are idiots we're dealing with. Plus I'm not going to say no to going without lessons. I'd be crazy to do that. But this also makes it easier for us to guard the academy from any creatures that are stupid enough to attack.

Jacob tells us all that there could be a possibility that the dhampir novices may be going out to hunt our people sooner than we first thought and that they are now seriously thinking about letting the Moroi who want to go along with them go and use their magic. It's about time the Moroi did this. Thankfully, Jacob was spying on the Queen while she's still here along with Tyler.

"You know what this means right?" Jacob enthusiastically tells us. I feel a pressure on the back of my head from all the thoughts of other people. "Scott and Emily can come with us too." Oh My God. I didn't think of that.

"Yes. Some action for once." Emily says banging her fist in the air. At that we all laugh. All around the table I see the people I trust the most grinning like Cheshire cats. If Emily and Scott can come with us on this field experience then we have water, earth and fire to use in public with the dhampirs and Moroi. Well, not Earth seeing as Scott is a 'fire' Moroi... Wait. Adrian. He'd be aloud to go with us...Right?

"And Adrian." I tell them proudly. Everyone but Adrian is sitting around the table with understanding faces. Adrian just looks confused as hell.

"Yeah. But Spirit doesn't really do anything." Adrian says cautiously, raising his eyebrows at us all. What is he talking about? Spirit can do anything...

"I think it's time we had another lesson Adrian." I tell him vaguely. Standing up to leave, I walk out of the cafeteria with Adrian hot on my heels. At that the voices miraculously stop. Thank God. At least I didn't lose control this time. I let the others all know telepathically and I'm thankful for the pain to have gone. For now.

"So what are you teaching me?" He asks looking at me with a smile. I can already see the love he has for me start to turn into a brotherly affection instead. Even if he doesn't know it yet.

"Well, you've already mastered telepathy, it's just a matter of strength now but that can only happen with practice on your part so I can't really help you there." I say whilst slipping into a serious voice. "But..."I say in a singing voice. A complete opposite to what I've just sounded like. "I told you I was also telekinetic right?"

"Yep." Adrian says happily.

"Well. I'm gonna help you, Adrian Ivashkov, to use telekinesis. If you can do it or even better, master it, by the time we go out on these 'missions', you may be able to go with us and ultimately help us make sure they never catch our people."

"I'll do it. But... won't Lissa know that there's other parts of Spirit this way?" Oh shit. I hadn't thought of that. I'll have to figure out a way to make sure Lissa never learns this. I don't know why but I feel like it would be used against her by people and she's not strong enough.

"I'll figure that out later. Right now, we're going to do some telekinesis." I say with a slight skip in my step.

"So, the lake I'm guessing? That's where we're going right." He says whilst catching up to me. I hadn't noticed I'd gone ahead.

"Are you asking me or telling me?" I say with a smirk. "Come on, let's go." Looking around to make sure no-one follows us or sees us, Adrian and I hurriedly make our way to the lake where he first learnt telepathy. Just like last time, Toothless is there to fly us to the lake. "Hey buddy." I say to the black dragon in front of me. He purrs in satisfaction when I rub behind his ears.

Quickly like we've both done this a million times before, Adrian and I climb onto Toothless's back and we reach the lake in no time. Both of us jump off and Toothless runs to the rocks where we sat last time Adrian had a Spirit lesson.

Making our way over there, Adrian sits down on the rocks next to Toothless while I stay standing.

"Okay then. Telekinesis. Well, it's easier if I show you first." I say, smirking. With a slight lift of my hand, the large rocks at the lake's edge start to lift and float in the air. Adrian looks in awe at the rocks while Toothless is just sitting there with his head lifted in pride for his rider. Oh thanks, Toothless. "Telekinesis is easy to learn. It's just that to do it on a scale where it's effective in battle takes practice. But once you've mastered it then you can be unstoppable. With telekinesis, you don't need any other element because you can easily move them with Spirit."

"So. When do I get to learn how to do that?" Adrian says, nearly jumping out of his seat on the rocks.

"Patience." I say with a smile across my face. "Like I said. Telekinesis can be substituted for the other elements. It allows you to move the other elements but not shape them. It doesn't really effect air because Telekinesis is different. Telekinesis can't effect air as much. That we know of anyway. But with water, earth and fire... it becomes extremely useful. Here look at the rocks. They're earth. But I can't shape them. Or change them. Just move them but it's handy. There's a lot of tricks with this sort of telekinesis that I'll teach later on. Water you can shape. Because it's liquid. So basically, water magic is the same as telekinesis except that it only affects liquid. Fire's the same. But forget about that for now. I want you to picture moving this rock in front of you, in your mind." I tell him, making sure he's paying attention to everything I'm saying.

"And I do that how?" He says in annoyance. The concept is hard to grasp at first but once you can do it, it becomes easier.

"Just picture it." I tell him and he immediately looks at the fist-sized rock I threw in front of him. With a flick of my wrist, the rocks that are in the air fall to the ground. I go to sit next to Adrian but pull out my phone and message the teams in the academies to make sure everything is fine. Nothing big has happened yet. A few werewolves were found in an academy in Italy but they were quickly sorted out. They didn't even get near the academy. Apparently the same thing was said from the werewolves. The end is coming. Whatever that is...

I look at Adrian and can see him trying to picture the rock in his mind. "Don't worry. It's hard to do for everyone at first. Even me. Just practice at it and it'll happen." I tell him, trying to give him some sort of confidence boost. He smiles back at me, grateful for the boost. "I'll be back in a bit. I'm just going to check the borders of the academy." I say. He nods at me and I turn around to find Toothless already there, waiting for me to hop on. So I do.

He takes off into the sky with a few beats of his large wings and we quickly fly around the academy. I'm trying to sense anything that could be coming to attack us but there's nothing there. So after about 30 minutes of flying we turn back to the lake where Adrian is still trying to move the rock.

Toothless lands with a thud on the rocks and I step down from his saddle to walk over to Adrian. "Any luck?" I ask him.

"Nope." He says, still in concentration. He'll get it soon. I know he will. He just needs to practice.

"Well, we have to go. I have to do something at the academy and I can't leave you here." I say to him and he immediately stands up, still holding the rock and concentrating on trying to picture it in his mind. We both get on Toothless and quickly fly to the trees just outside the academy. We both hop off and after a quick goodbye with Toothless, we both walk out, and Adrian puts the rock in his pocket.

"You'll get it soon. Just keep trying." I tell him.

"Will do. I'm off to my room to practice okay. I'll see you later." Adrian says with a smirk before heading in the opposite direction.

"See ya." I call after him. He waves back and I head to where Lissa is. Hopefully alone. Before I can get there though, the guardians all shout to us to go to the large hall. Why? What's going on now? I run to where everybody else is heading, pushing through the Moroi and dhampirs to get in the front. I meet up with Emily at the front of the hall and she gives me a slight shrug to indicate she doesn't know what's going on.

Looking into her pale blue eyes, I ask her where the others are.

"I don't know. They'll probably meet us inside. Come on." She tells me and pulls my hand inside the hall. We find a place to sit in the back and everyone one quickly joins us here. First Eddie and Shane, then Tyler, Jacob and Scott and lastly Adrian.

"What's going on?" Eddie asks. We all shrug at that. It looks like no-one knows what's going on.

"Okay, everybody quieten down. There is an important message from our queen." I hear Headmistress Kirova say over the loud murmurings of the crowd. After a few minutes everybody quietens down. Tatiana Ivashkov steps up to the podium then to address her people. I nearly forgot she was here. Adrian told me earlier that she is staying in St Vladimir's until things calm down a bit.

"I'm sure you all are wondering why we are here." Tatiana says in that air of elegance and confidence that I have come to admire about her. "Well. As you all know, the dhampir novices are going out into the field for experience in a month. Well. That date has been moved up. Within a week, dhampir novices will be going to their field experiences." With that said, the whole crowd errupts in cheers and whoops. From novices, Moroi and guardians alike. The eight of us in the back stay silent. Watching the reactions of everyone. Both Adrian and I are checking their auras to see if anyone disagrees with them and could be on our side. No luck so far.

"Yes. I know it's exciting." The queen says with a smile. I check her aura but I don't see what I expect. Doubt. But why would she... I'll have to keep an eye on her. "But there is other news. Dhampirs alone won't be able to destroy this threat to our races." I see despair and uneasiness in her aura now. "Moroi who choose to, will be aloud to fight with the dhampirs on these missions. Students included. But only if they are skilled in their element. That's all. if anyone wants to sign up, you should go see Guardian Petrov before the end of this week. That's all." And with that she steps down from the podium and walks through the backdoor.

Everyone is talking about how excited this is and some royal Moroi are saying how they shouldn't have to fight. Spoilt brats. I scan the crowd again for any signs of a potential ally and I'm shocked at what I find. Christian doesn't agree. But why? I'll have to find out later. But he's not the one I'm shocked at the most.

"He doesn't agree." Adrian says quietly to all of us.

"Neither does Christian." I tell them. But how can he not agree? He's a man full of hatred and darkness.

The man is Viktor Dashkov. His aura is full of hatred but not for us. For the fact that we are being hunted and he doesn't agree on the whole thing. But this is scary. Why is this scary? Because he's looking right at me...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has kept reading this story. If you could leave a review it would mean a lot. :)


	12. Chapter 11-Training the Moroi

**Chapter 11- Training the Moroi**

He's looking right at me... and smiling. Why is he smiling? Does he know? No. He couldn't. Could he? I desperately look at the others for an explanation but I can see that they are as shocked as I am.

"Okay. Everybody. You can leave now." I hear Kirova shouting over the crowd. Immediately we all run out of the hall as inconspicuously as possible. We all reach the doors leading outside and go to the bench outside of the building. A far enough distance between the two so no-one will hear us.

"What the fuck was that? He looks like he knows something guys." Shane says whilst pacing back and forth.

"I don't know. But I think he knows." Adrian says to us all. We are all trying to remain calm right now but it's not working. If Viktor knows... then he could expose us to everybody. Then all of this would of been for nothing.

"Okay guys. Calm down. Let's go over this." Scott says trying to get us all to stop freaking out. He's always the calm one. "Right. Okay. Well. The novices are going in a week. Obviously you need guys all need to go too so you should talk to Guardian Petrov later. Moroi can also go so should we go?" He asks us.

"We need people here. But the two of you alone can't protect the academy. What if something happens?" I tell them while running a hand through my long dark brown hair.

"Then we rotate. A few of us go this time, then next time a few others go. If Adrian can use telekinesis by the time we are supposed to go then he should go too. It should either be you or Adrian, Clary, each time because you guys can talk to any Hunters or Elementals there telepathically." Tyler says. That's a good idea.

"Okay then. I'll go the first time because Adrian might need more practice before he goes out there." I tell everyone and we all nod.

"So what if, Scott and I stay along with Jacob and Shane as well as Adrian. That means we have 5 people here. We can all protect the academy then." Emily offers. Great. That's one thing sorted. I love how fast we get things sorted out. No arguing.

"Sure. So Charlie, Tyler and I should go. Great. Sorted." Eddie says to no-one in particular.

"You said Christian Ozera and Viktor Dashkov don't agree with them? Should we trust them?" Jacob asks Adrian and I.

"Christian we can trust. I think. But no way can we trust Dashkov." I tell them all and they all nod at me.

"Right. So let's talk to Christian. If he agrees to help us, Clary, Scott and I can help train him more as well and fight with his fire abilities." Shane says. Christian will want to go on this hunt. Probably. But maybe not...

"Okay. So let's go get this sorted. Scott and I will tell the teams at the academies and Sydney what's going on as well as the Elders." Eddie says to us all before he and Scott head off in the direction of the cabin.

"You and Adrian should talk to Christian now, Charlie. It'll be better coming from you two." Emily says to both of us and we nod at her. "And if Dashkov tries to talk to you then ignore him. Don't say a word." She says and we all split up.

"So, we're telling Christian then?" Adrian asks warily.

"Yep." I say. I hope he agrees to help us or doesn't, you know, freak out.

We quickly go to the doors of the hall where Christian is just walking out of. Both Adrian and I look at each other before I sprint to Christian and tug on his arm. "We need to talk." I tell him in the most serious voice I can muster up before walking away to the church attic. Adrian catches up to me when I slow down and Christian is following us but leaving a distance between us. He doesn't know what's going on. But to be fair. Neither do I anymore.

All three of us walk up the narrow staircase to the attic. Me in front with Adrian and then Christian behind me. We all stay silent until we reach the room and both Adrian and Christian go to sit down. How am I going to say this? I should probably start with the fact that he doesn't agree with any of this.

"What do you think of the Hunters and Elementals, Christian? And don't give me any bullshit that you hate them. You're aura shows us that you don't agree with any of this." I tell him quickly and straight to the point.

"What? That's bullshit Rose. I hate those monsters more than anything. Everyone does." Christian exclaims. Well. Not everyone does. I certainly don't hate them. I can tell that he doesn't believe himself through his aura.

"That's a lie. I can see it." I tell him.

"How?" He says curiously.

"I have Spirit." I tell him, very matter-of-factly.

"But you're a dhampir..." He says trailing off.

"Nope. Hunter." I tell him and his eyes bulge out of his head. "Yep I know. Awesome right. I'm a Hunter but so's Eddie, Tyler, Jacob and Shane. And Emily and Scott are Elementals. Adrian is a Moroi though. We're the only ones who know. I never even told Lissa about this." I tell him and my voice quietens down at the end. I feel like I've betrayed Lissa by not telling her about any of this but I never felt I could trust her with this. And she despises my people so much.

"So why tell me?"Christian asks us both. Why not? We need all the help we can get. Just not from Viktor.

"Because you don't agree with everyone else. You can help us. Are you going to sign up for that field experience?" Adrian asks rapidly.

"I don't know. What if I come across one of your people and freeze? People will know that I don't agree with any of this." He asks us and I can see all his thoughts and emotions flying across his face. He can do this. We won't let people do anything to him. We need his help. His and Adrian's more than anything. Without it, we are back to step one and then we'll have no chance to stop this war.

"Look. Eddie, Tyler and I are going. Come with us. You can help us protect them." I tell him urgently. He needs to say yes. We need the help. Please say yes.

"How? And why aren't the others going?" He asks us. Why isn't he freaking out? Is it because he doesn't agree with any of this? Or just because we're friends? I understand why Adrian didn't freak out. He had that vision. But what about Christian? I expected him to scream for help and call for the guardians to get us once we told him. Well. That shows how much I know people.

"Because they need to stay and protect the academy. There's a lot you need to know if you're in this. Are you in Christian?" Adrian asks, finally speaking up.

"Yes." Christian says quickly like he doesn't even need to think about it.

"Great. I'll explain everything. But Adrian I have a feeling you might need to talk to Tatiana again. Something's not right there." I tell him. I don't know if she agrees or not or is just conflicted on Moroi fighting alongside the dhampirs.

"Sure. Will do, Little Hunter." Adrian says and quickly stands up and heads for the narrow staircase that leads to the ground floor of the church.

"Little Hunter?" Christian asks with a smirk plastered clear on his face. He's so going to keep calling me that now, isn't he? Damn you, Adrian.

"Adrian's new nickname but only when no-one's around." I explain to Pyro. See you have a nickname too Christian. At that Adrian leaves to go to his aunt. I turn to Christian and say, " So the basics. Forget everything you know about us. It's all wrong. We're not created by Strigoi and we're not emotionless as you can see." I say with a smile. "We can touch silver stakes obviously and Elementals can control more than one elements sometimes. Also Hunters can control Elements but that's complicated. There's more than one type of Hunter. Hunters are actually half human and half Elemental. We're the equivalent to your dhampirs but better. We don't drink blood. We haven't teamed up with the Strigoi but instead hunt them sometimes. They aren't that hard to kill compared to other creatures like demons and werewolves and others." I quickly say. I want to get this over with so we can train him up a bit to go out and fight.

"Demons?" He asks me, fear seeping into his voice.

"They call us hunters for a reason you know." I say with a small laugh. "Anyway. That battle did happen but not like you were taught..." And I spend the next two hours telling Christian everything about my people and what we can do. I tell him about Elementals and Hunters and all the different types of Hunters there are. I tell him I'm a Psi-Drakon and I tell him about dragons. I tell him about everything we can do and all the different species we fight. Then I tell him about this 'end' we were told about and all the teams in the academies.

"So you need my help?" He asks after I finish telling him about our way of life and how we train.

"Yep." I tell him quickly.

"Okay." He says and he's in. That was easy. But there's something else. There's a reason behind this, behind the fact that he trusted us so easily. But I decide to let it go for now. I know I can trust him and he can trust me. What a bromance we have...

"If you want, Shane, Scott and I can show you some tricks with fire. I mean, I'm already teaching Adrian Spirit. I could probably take on another student. You in Pyro?" I ask him with a smirk. I have a feeling that he'll accept this offer.

"Hell yes. Of course." He says in anticipation for these training sessions we'll be giving him. Huh. I give up training sessions with Belikov to get more with Adrian and Christian. How ironic.

"Okay. Well. We should probably go to Alberta and tell her we're in right?" I ask him and he nods. We both leave the attic after that and make our way to the guardians building. Alberta will probably be here in her office.

We meet up with Eddie and Tyler on the way who are also going to tell Alberta that we are volunteering for the field experience a week from now on. Nearly all novices will be volunteering. "So you know then?" Eddie asks Christian so casually like it's a daily conversation for him and not like we've just told him that we are part of the species his race is trying to eradicate from the earth.

"Yeah. I know. I never would of guessed if you hadn't told me though." Christian admits to us. "You guys look a lot like dhampirs." He says with a slight shake of his head like he doesn't understand how it's possible.

"That's one of the reasons we can pose as dhampirs so easily, same with the Elementals. But it's just us that does this whole undercover thing. Like a test." Tyler says quietly, making sure no-one can hear us.

We all make our way to the guardians building and notice a large crowd of novices and a few Moroi standing outside. Probably waiting to volunteer. I see Alberta at the front of the crowd trying to keep things under control. That's when I notice Tasha Ozera making her way over to us with a sinister smile on her face.

"You're volunteering Christian? And there I thought you were a coward." She says with a sneer. I nearly forgot that she has sort of abandoned Christian for Lissa. How can she do that to her own family? "And you, Rose. Well. I hope you don't make it back." She says before turning around and making her way to where Lissa is currently standing with Dimitri behind her.

"What a bitch." Christian says and I'm shocked that it was him who said it. "She can't get away with that." He says and Eddie pulls him back before he does something he'll regret.

"Charlie can look after herself and so can you. Ignore her. If she needs to be a bitch, let her." Eddie says trying to calm Christian down.

"Who's Charlie?" He asks, confused. Shit. I forgot to tell him my real name.

"That's me." I say and he tilts his head in my direction. "My real name is Clary Rosemarie Winchester. I forgot to mention it. The others don't have fake names but I sort of have to. Also Shane's last name is actually Winchester." I whisper to him and quickly explain it all and also that Janine isn't truly a dhampir or my mother but a Hunter in a dhampir body. "I know it's a lot to take in." I say to him.

"Yeah. It is." He says with a chuckle. "You know she only treats you like that because she's in love with Belikov?" He says and Eddie, Tyler and I say in unison 'We know.'."Yeah well. She has no chance there. I can see that Belikov is head over heels in love with you. He hides it well though." He says whilst turning to look at the three of us.

"Not anymore he's not." I say and all three turn to look at me. I forgot to tell them about my confrontation with Dimitri about 3 days ago now. It seems so long ago. I still remember what he said, what I said.

"What do you mean?" Tyler asks with worry written across his face.

"I told him to back off, that I never loved him yet again and this time he listened he said that he wouldn't talk to me again and that I was just a child and he walked away. It's for the best. If he gets too close... he hates our people. It wouldn't work. Can we just not talk about it?" I ask them and they all agree and let it go. But I know they are worrying about me now. It's for the best. He'd kill me if he found out the truth.

We walk to the back of the crowd and start to push through to Alberta in the front. I'd be lying if I said I didn't use a bit of telekinesis to push the crowd apart. Just a bit though. Not much. No-one will notice. Alberta looks at me in relief and I walk up to the paper they have in the front and write my name down as well as Christian, Eddie and Tyler. Why did Alberta look at me like that? It's probably because I've given up becoming a guardian. I was never going to be one so what's the point in trying? She probably thinks I've got some sort of new found determination in being a guardian... Hell no.

After that we quickly walk away and the crowd immediately starts pushing through to get their name down. I have a feeling there's a limited amount of places available at the moment because of the amount of people wanting to fight. I notice that nearly all Moroi who volunteer are non-royal. Why am I not surprised?

"Where now then?" Eddie asks.

"We should train a bit at the lake. Come on." I tell them and we quickly make our way into the forest without being noticed.

_Meet us at the lake._  I tell everyone. We need to train and go over strategy a bit before we go in a week.

_I'm already with Toothless at where we usually meet._ Adrian says back. I can see Christian starting to freak out. I told him about my telepathy but actually hearing my voice in his head is a bit daunting for him.

"It's fine. Don't freak out." I reassure him with a soft smile.

Walking into the trees and the cover they provide, I run up to Toothless the second I see him and give him a hug. He is my best friend after all. I can feel the fear coming off of Christian and turn around to walk up to him with Toothless. Adrian is already by his side reassuring him that Toothless won't hurt him. I mean, how could he? Just look at those large innocent green eyes and you can see that Toothless is harmless... unless it's me in danger then he turns fierce. But that's part of the bond we share as dragon and dragon rider. It's not like a shadow kissed bond but it's more. He knows when I need him and I know when he needs me. We're in tune like a newly tuned guitar.

He can sort of feel my emotions but not like how I can feel Lissa. He just knows what I'm feeling. It's a rare thing to have a true bond with a dragon as dragons as well as dragon riders are getting rarer now with all the enemies we have that are out to kill us.

Adrian slowly pushes Christian to Toothless and Toothless bows his head down as to tell Christian to put his hand there. It's a welcoming gesture for dragons when they know the person is fearful of them. But Christian quickly comes to his senses and puts his hand on Toothless' bowed head. Toothless then takes that as a cue to jump on top of Christian like he did to Adrian when he first met. He starts licking Christian's face and we all start laughing at the dragon who resembles more of a dog than a dangerous and powerful night-fury.

"I'll meet you guys there okay? Toothless and I will take the Moroi." I say whilst tilting my head in their direction. The others nod before they all take off running to the lake.

Toothless gets off Christian then and stands so we can all get onto him. I take the front and hold onto Toothless head whilst Adrian and Christian climb onto him behind me. "Hold on." I tell them and Toothless goes as fast as he can to the lake and the cabin, easily passing the others on the way. We reach there and the three of us climb off while Toothless gets a stick and starts drawing in the sand. If you can call it drawing, they're just lines.

"Uh. Charlie, what's he doing?" Adrian asks looking weirdly at the night-fury.

"He's drawing. He does it sometimes. Just don't stand on the lines and he won't attack. He's protective over his 'art'." I say whilst laughing. I remember when I was younger and Toothless was still a baby we always used to do this in the dirt when we stopped on our travels. They were simpler times. When I didn't have to worry about if a Moroi or dhampir would find out what I am every day.

"So. What's the plan Charlie?" Shane asks me once he and the others reach us.

"Well. I can help Adrian with Spirit but I can't do much right now, it's mainly up to him so I can train Christian a bit. Some of us should probably either train a bit or go around looking for any creatures." I tell them and immediately we have everything sorted. Shane and Eddie will fly up in the air with their large wings to check from the sky, Tyler and Jacob will both use their Lycanthrope skills to turn into animals, in this case wolves, to scout on the ground. Scott and Emily are going to help me train Christian and Adrian both with their elements and actual fighting.

Both Eddie and Shane immediately take off into the sky, flapping their large wings, Eddie's bird-like and Shane's like a dragon's, a few times to take off. Both Moroi are staring in awe. Tyler and Jacob rapidly turn into wolves within a blink of an eye and run off into the woods.

"Right. Adrian. You know what to do. Keep trying to picture it in your mind." I say to him whilst throwing another fist-sized rock at him.

"Sure. I've got it." Adrian says before turning to his place on the rocks above the lake and starting to concentrate on moving the rock. Then I turn to Shane and Christian. "Shane, can you teach Christian some fire stuff? I'm just going to train with Toothless for a bit." I tell them and they both immediately start doing some fire magic.

"Hey Em. You gonna train?" I ask Emily who is sitting at the water' side and moving it back and forth.

"Yeah. Why? Wanna element combat?"She offers and I immediately agree. Element combat is a way of fighting for Hunters and Elementals and it's also one of our sports that we play. It's a way for us to train against each other. There aren't much rules to it when compared to other sports we play like dragon-ball, my favourite sport along with Toothless. It's the sport that Drakon types like Drakon, Psi-Drakon, Draphim, Dramaid, and other types play with their dragons but a lot of drakon types don't have dragons so the ones that do all play the sport in teams.

It doesn't help that dragons, like us, are dying out and staying hidden. The modern world hasn't got a place for them or us anymore.

Emily stands on one side of the little flat area we have in front of the lake for combat and I stand on the other. Christian, Scott and Adrian are all watching us in anticipation now and Toothless is lying on the rocks waiting for us to start. After Scott shouts 'go' we both immediately start fighting. Emily gathers up water to make a water spiral which is a large tower of water which spins fast and carries people up with it when it's strong enough, and she throws it at me, trying to throw me down. I quickly conjure up the same but fire instead and the fire then reacts with the water, ultimately turning it into steam. I then use telekinesis to move the rocks from underneath her feet and make her fall. Running up to her, I grab her shoulder and throw her down while the rocks I lifted up fall down on her lightly so that they wind her but not kill her.

She tries to hit me off with water but I quickly put up a telekinetic wall and the water stops, not able to get through. I don't know why she wanted to element combat. She never wins against me. No-one does. I'm undefeated champion. With that I put a hand over her heart and push down slightly to indicate that I just 'killed' her. I then stand up and Emily follows quickly behind. I can hear Toothless roaring in pride at my victory.

"You shouldn't have even tried Em. You know Charlie never loses." Shane says whilst shaking his head.

"Yeah I know." Emily says whilst laughing. I'm still smiling at my victory. "I'll beat her one day though." She says with determination.

"Alright guys. Back to practicing." I tell them and Emily immediately starts practicing her water skills while Shane and Christian are going over fire combat moves. I walk over to Adrian and see how he's doing.

"Hey. How's it going?" I ask him.

"It's going..." He stops half way when the rock starts to move slightly. We both sit in anticipation while Adrian starts to concentrate even harder and the rock lifts up slightly. After a few seconds in the air though it drops to the ground with a small thud. "I did it." He says so proudly.

"Well done. Just keep doing it now and once you can keep it up and move it around, I'll tell you what to do next. It'll get much easier now. It takes a while for a Spirit user to unlock telekinesis." I tell him before I go over to Toothless for a quick flight. "I'll be back in a bit. Just going to go for a flight." I shout to everyone before both Toothless and I take off and start to fly around the academy but far enough away that they can't see us. I can see Eddie in the distance flying with his large wings the same colour as his sandy blonde hair. We fly over to him and Toothless glides next to him while we talk.

"Hey. How's the training going?" He asks me, interested in our new fighters.

"Good. Adrian's just gotten used to telekinesis and I think he'll be getting stronger at it quite quickly. Christian is also taking to fire combat well. That reminds me actually. We should try and train them in hand to hand combat as well as weapons. Just in case but it's up to them of course." I tell him and he nods at my suggestion of teaching the Moroi hand to hand combat as well as weaponry.

"Yeah. Good idea. We should probably teach them a bit about the creatures we hunt, you know. Just in case they come across them or we aren't here to protect the academy." Eddie says and I can't help but agree with them. It would be a good idea. I'll have to talk to them about it later. "You sense anything?" He asks and I shake my head to tell him no.

"Nothing. I better get back to the others and teach Adrian some more stuff." I say to him and Toothless and I then turn back to the lake. We arrive in about two minutes and land on the rocks in front of Adrian. Scott and Emily are both teaching Christian more fire combat moves and Adrian has finally gotten a hang of moving the rock easily.

Walking up to him I say, "You got it then?" before sitting down in front of him.

"Yep." He says, popping the 'p' and flicking his wrist to move the rocks in the air. "What next Little Hunter?" He asks me while still moving the rock in the air.

"Now is the part where I actually do something." I tell him. "I'm gonna throw some water at you and you have to stop it mid-air. It's a helpful trick to have and if you can do it fast enough like I can, then you can stop knives and bullets that are being thrown or shot at you. Water is the easiest one to start with because it's liquid and can bend easier." I tell him and motion for him to stand up. He does and lets go of his telekinetic hold on the rock. "Okay. Just stand there and just picture the water stopping when I throw it at you, okay?" He nods in understanding and I gather up water by moving my hand in a circular motion.

Within a second I've thrown the water at him and he ends up soaked. "Try again." I tell him and I gather up more water again before throwing it at him. Yet again, he ends up wet. "Concentrate." I tell him and do it again and again and again until he gets it. On our 27th try or something like that he stops the water slightly with some of it going on him and some still in the air.

"Yes! You did it. Now again." I say and throw more water at him which he stops again and again and again. "Great. Now just practice stopping moving liquid and try to move around larger and heavier objects and we're on our way. You're a quick learner Adrian." I tell him proudly. He's going to be an incredibly good Spirit user soon.

"Well. I do have a great teacher." He says with a smirk in my direction. Both of us laugh and nearly on time Eddie, Shane, Tyler and Jacob arrive back at the lake.

"It's getting dark. We should get back to the academy before anyone notices we're gone." Shane says to everybody.

"Plus it's time for dinner." Tyler says before running into the woods. The others quickly follow him then whilst laughing out loud and Adrian, Christian and I jump onto Toothless and swiftly reach the end of the trees at the academy. Waiting for the others, we all stand there after Toothless has gone and I ask them what Eddie and I were discussing earlier.

"Hey guys. Look, Eddie and I were wondering if you guys wanted to learn some hand to hand combat and weaponry. I mean if you're going to help us you might need it in the future. Especially if you're going to go on these field experiences. But you don't have to do it if you don't want to. It's just a suggestion." I ask them quickly, hoping they say yes.

"We'll do it." They both say in unison. Thank god. That makes our jobs easier. If they can protect themselves then they won't need our protection 24/7.

"Okay. That's good." I say just as the others come into view. "Come on, let's get some food." I say to all of them.

We all walk to the canteen then, discussing their training and combat as well as both fire and spirit elements. Emily is busy explaining the sport element combat to the two Moroi and promises that we'll take them to a game soon. I can't help but see this as success that maybe Moroi and dhampirs might treat us differently in the future. Well, I hope so anyway.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has read this story and stuck with it. It means a lot. If you could review it would mean a lot. :)


	13. Chapter 12-Complicated Situations

** Chapter 12-Complicated Situations **

"Just a few werewolves in an academy in Italy, 5 skin-shifters in Russia and vampires in 3 academies in Turkey, Russia and England. That's it. How's the training with the Moroi going?" My friend Sydney asks me over the phone. I had expected more attacks than this but it seems like they're building up for something. We still don't know if they can cross the wards in every academy but no-one wants to risk it. They haven't gotten anywhere near the academies yet but that could change if they start to figure out that we have people in each academy.

"The training is going well. Christian Ozera is adapting to our way of fighting quickly as well as Adrian but their reflexes are fast because they're Moroi. It's useful. Christian is improving in fire combat. We've sort of re-learnt him everything because the Moroi way is... well, crap. But he's good. Adrian is at the moment only working on telekinesis and telepathy. I find it easier for him to just concentrate on those two first but he's improving rapidly. He'll be ready for combat soon. As long as they use their elements only that is." I tell Sydney. I sound like a teacher. Christ.

"Hand to hand combat not going so well?" Sydney asks me curiously.

"Nope. If they had a bit of muscle on them and were stronger then we wouldn't have much of a problem but Moroi lead an easy life and as a consequence of that lifestyle they have no strength. We've just got them running a lot basically. It's slowly working." I tell her. I'm so tired. The last 5 days I've missed my lessons and have been training Adrian in Spirit using and then sorting out the academy teams and making sure everything is going smoothly. I've given up on my studies. I've already done them when I was a kid anyway.

"You sound tired." Sydney states to me like a fact. She could always read people so perfectly, even just by their voice.

"I am. I've been so busy with everything. I haven't even gotten round to Viktor yet. Probably because I haven't talked to anyone and have been at the lake for the past five days. I haven't been in lessons because there isn't any point and I've been training the two Moroi for the past few days. And then the field experience is happening in two days and I have so much to do." I tell her and I notice just how tired I sound. I don't even want to think about how tired I look.

"You need to rest Charlie. You work too much." She tells me and I outwardly scoff at her. I work too much? Hypocrite. She works more than me. I mean, Sydney lives on coffee for fuck sake. Literally.

"Yeah, I know. I will. I need to. Look I gotta go Syd. Some news about the field experience in the hall apparently. I'll talk to you later, k?" I tell her before I round the corner where I can sense Christian and Adrian are waiting for me.

"Yeah. Okay. Bye." She says and I hang up the phone before I greet the two Moroi waiting for me. "Hey. What's the big news then?" I ask them both before yawning.

"You need to sleep Little Hunter." Adrian says with a smile. They both know how tired I've been recently and how much I've been working. "Apparently it's only for the people going on the field experience so that means you, Sparky, Eddie and Tyler. I'm not invited." Adrian says with a smile on his face. After that he quickly walks away without saying anything else. That's more like the Adrian I know. Ever since he found out he's been a bit different but his aura put that down as shock. Thankfully he's getting back to normal.

"We should go. Find out what they all want." Christian says before we walk to the hall where we meet Eddie and Tyler waiting for us and all sit down in the back where no-one can hear us and we can watch the crowd more efficiently. Everything we do is somehow a strategy nowadays.

Alberta Petrov, the head guardian, then walks up to the podium in the center of the room and shouts for everybody to quieten down. There's a total of 20 novices, all from the senior year, in the room, 10 guardians, 6 Moroi students and 3 adult Moroi in the room who are all coming with us in two days. That makes a total of 39 of us as well as the 11 guardians from court, which makes 50. I don't even know where we're going yet.

"Okay. Well. Here it is. I know you've all been wondering where this whole field experience will take part and I can safely say that it is indeed Seattle we're going to. Apparently there is a large number of Hunters and Elementals there and all of you here as well as other official guardians from court, will be going there." Alberta says confidently. Seattle? Well, no shit, there's a big number of us there. It's literally the closest city to Mount Zavno. But they will never figure that out.

"And if you would all quieten down, I will tell you the plan." Immediately the crowd, who were all talking about finally knowing where we're going, quieten down and only the barest of whispers can be heard. But that's because of my Hunter hearing. "You'll be put into groups of four, 2 novices, a Moroi and a guardian. The groups are down here and you can come and check them in a second but first I want to tell you of all your roles. The Moroi will be using their elemental magic against these creatures and one novice will be guarding the Moroi while the other novice and guardian go ahead a bit and check the buildings. We'll all be splitting up and given a few buildings to check. All day tomorrow you'll all be in a special class to go over everything in more detail. That's all. You can check what team your in and with who and then leave. We don't know who we're with yet so be patient." She says and immediately we all rush down to the list in the center of the room to check our names. The four of us decide to hang back for a while before checking ourselves to see if anything weird is going on.

After a few minutes half of the room has left and we go to check who we're with. It'd be easier if we were all in different teams because then we have more of a range to cover. But I highly doubt that will happen. We walk down to the list at the front of the podium and everyone but us, a few novices and Alberta is left in the room. Walking up to the list, we stop in front of the paper and quickly look for our names. I see Eddie and Tyler's names are in different groups so that's useful. Eddie's stuck with Stan Alto in his group, gutted. Tyler has drawn the short straw. He has Tasha Ozera in his group. Thankfully it's not me. I'd hunt her instead.

When I come across mine and Christian's name I immediately scowl. The paper says Rosemarie Hathaway, Christian Ozera, Mason Ashford and Guardian Dimitri Belikov. Great. Just great. Well, I'm happy about 3 out of 4 of the people. Now I'll have to talk to him. This doesn't help the fact that I'm trying to stay away from him. Fuck.

I turn around and run my hands through my long hair before walking out of the large room. This is just what I needed. Cool.

"Belikov huh? That's gonna work out well." Tyler says behind me, trying not to laugh.

"Don't push it Ty." I say but I can't help but laugh a bit at the end. This is kind of funny. Probably not to Dimitri though. "Look. Let's just go see the others and train a bit. Come on." I say while I make my way towards Adrian and the others at the front of the church.

"Who've you got?" Jacob asks us once we reach them. Tyler and Eddie tell them their groups and start arguing over which is worst.

"Dude, I got Alto. That's bad." Eddie exclaims to us all.

"Yeah, well I got Tasha Ozera. So I win." Tyler says with such annoyance that we all burst into laughter.

"No. You don't. I do." I announce to the others.

"Why?" Emily asks me curiously.

"I got Dimitri Belikov so I, in fact, win." I tell them with a giant frown on my face. At that everybody starts laughing and saying 'You won Clary'. "But I've also got Christian and Mason. So it ain't that bad..." I say trailing off and they immediately start laughing once again.

"Roz... Rose. Can we talk?" I hear from behind me. Dimitri. I know before I turn around who it is. The others are all trying to keep in their laughter while I turn around to see him.

"Uh. Why?" I ask him. Why does he want to talk?

"About tomorrow and..." He trails off when he glances at the others behind me. He wants to talk about us so it won't be awkward... Fuck. I have to, don't I?

"Yeah sure." I tell him and he turns around and heads a few metres away from the others, close but not close enough that they can hear. But they can because of our advanced hearing. One of the downsides of our enhanced abilities. They hear everything. "So... what do you want to talk about?" I ask him, glancing around to the others who are all laughing at the situation. Still.

"It's about tomorrow. We're in the same group and I... I don't want it to get awkward. I know..." He says but he stops for some reason. His eye narrow in anger and I can see his fists clench but he's not looking at me. He's looking over my shoulder to someone. I look over my shoulder and I'm met with Tasha and her condescending smirk. I notice that she's swaying her hips more, trying to be attractive for Dimitri, trying being the operative word here, but it looks like he... hates her. I wonder what happened there.

"Dimka. There you are. I've been looking for you everywhere." She says sending a flirtatious smile in Dimitri's direction. Or trying to anyway...

"Go away Tasha." He says through clenched teeth. I look at the others and they all start making their way over to us. Great. Just what I need. A crowd.

"Why Dimka?" Tasha says trying to sound innocent, and failing. Big time.

"Maybe you should leave Tasha. Dimitri and I were having a conversation." I tell her and look into her eyes, daring her to do something. Please. Please give me a reason to hit you.

"Why should I do what you say? You're nothing but a little slut. You think you're better than everyone don't you? But you're not. You're just a little girl with mummy issues." She says with a cruel sneer to her voice. Did she just... Did she just say mummy issues? Eddie and Shane immediately grab my arms and pull me back.

"Don't Rose." They both say to me. Tasha is smiling at her victory from my reaction.

"Back off Tasha, leave Roza alone." Dimitri says stepping forward and looking at Tasha like looks could kill. Right now, I wish they could.

"Why are you standing up for her Dimka? She broke your heart." Tasha says to him and I can see his stance soften immediately. His aura starts swirling with sadness but, for some reason, there is also hope. He starts to say something but I interrupt first.

"Just leave Tasha. None of us need some desperate love-struck bitch like you around." I say to her and she immediately stomps away in annoyance. Take that bitch. "I'll see you guys later. We still need to talk." I say to the others and they all nod and turn away but not before Eddie whispers into my ears.

"Forget what she said about your mum, Charlie. She's talking about Janine, not your real mum." He says in a low and quiet tone so no-one else can hear. I look at him with a thankful expression.

"I know." I tell him before he walks away. I know that she meant Janine but still... just the memory of my mum hurts. I remember the night she died more clear than anything... "Let's talk then." I say and walk to the corner of the church where people can't see us so clearly.

"Roza. Are you okay?" He asks me and puts his hand on my cheek in a loving way that I nearly forget that this shouldn't be happening.

"Don't do that." I tell him while I pull his hand away. "What did you want to talk about?" I say in a way that I hope makes him think that I don't care.

"Just about tomorrow. It'll be okay right? Not awkward?" He asks and his voice is starting to break and there are unshed tears threatening to fall down his face. Why do I have to keep hurting him? I thought it was over. But no. Apparently fate thinks I haven't hurt enough in my life.

"Yeah fine. Why wouldn't it be?" I say with a fake smile but I don't think he noticed.

"Okay good. I'll see you tomorrow then." And he then rapidly walks away with his head held down. I don't want to hurt him. I hate it. But I have to. I just have to.

Walking to where the others are waiting, we all quietly make our way to the edge of the forest where we can talk without people hearing. "What happened?" Emily asks when we sit down and she goes to touch my shoulder in a friendly way.

I explain to them what happened and I am met with sympathetic looks all around. They all know about the situation with Dimitri but it's not like we can be together. No matter how much I want it. "But it doesn't matter. We all know that. So let's just leave it." I ask them and they all nod. We end up just chatting about the academy itself and all the gossip and I can't help but smile at this group that I have come to call family.

Before we know it, it's the end of the day and we're in the cafeteria talking about the field experience coming up soon.

"So exactly what are you going to do?" Adrian asks us while leaning back on his seat.

"I'll tell some Hunters and Elementals to leave if there are guardians in the area but, of course, this is Seattle. There are usually hunts going on and we'll have to keep the vamps and dhamps away from those areas or if there's a werewolf or skin-shifter or whatever else is out at the time, we'll have to hunt it but without alerting the others to what we're doing." I tell them all the plan and the idea of what we need to do.

"Dean and Sam will be there to handle any problems if we can't. They'll be close to us at all times. Dean will be with Tyler and Sam will be with Eddie and if anything happens with Clary and Christian, then they'll have to call a Hunter with her telepathy." Scott explains.

"What if they get one of your people?" Christian asks with a worried expression on his face.

"Then we wing it." I say simply. I've been thinking about that a lot. What if they get one of our people? We can't just stand back. We'll probably have to use some tricks to make sure that doesn't happen. An hour later and we've all left to our dorms for tomorrow. It's gonna be a busy day.

I'm so tired. Sydney's right. I need to sleep. Especially if I'm going to go Seattle for this 'experience' as the Moroi and dhampirs are calling it. They treat it like it's a field trip and not what it actually is, which is them going to try and kill innocent people. Immediately, I fall asleep on my bed, entangled in the blankets covering it and fall asleep.

* * *

Flashes of red and orange streak my vision and I can barely breathe, the smoke is that heavy. I turn to the door where I hear the screaming that pierces my ears. I don't see anything but my Dad talking to me in front of a background of what appears to be flames. The colours are everywhere but I can't hear a thing anymore. The noise just stopped, and thankfully, so did the screams. I feel a hand on my arm pulling me away from the scene. I start to move but it's not me. My mind says stop but my body won't listen. My legs keep moving even though I say stop. Well, I think it. I have no control over myself. It's like I'm possessed. But I'd know if I was. So that can't be it. I run out of our little family home and only then do I see the person who pulled me away. My brother Dean is standing there with his arm across my shoulder, pulling me into a hug. Sam, my other brother, is standing on the other side of Dean and Jon and Chase, my other two brothers, stand behind us. I barely notice my Dad running out of the house because all I can see is a black figure in the room that seems to be burning.

That's when I remember. My mother's death. I need to wake up. I can't be asleep anymore. It's too much. I try to force myself to wake up but I don't know how.

* * *

I wake up with a start and find my hair clinging to my forehead from my nightmare and it's cold sweat that happens every time. The nightmares are different most nights. Different ways. Different images. But all with the same outcome. Her death. Why did she have to die? She was the most caring person there ever was and she died. It's not fair. But life's not fair. I learnt that lesson a long time ago. I still am in a way.

I pull myself out of bed and force myself to take a shower before heading down to Alto's classroom. Alberta told us yesterday that we should get up early and go straight to Alto's classroom in the morning as that is where we will most likely spend most of the day. This whole thing wouldn't be as bad if Dimitri wasn't there. Him being there complicates things. I won't be able to concentrate.

Within a few minutes, I'm with Eddie, Tyler and Christian and we're on our way to Alto's.

"Is this going to last all day because I have things to do." Tyler whines next to me.

"Yeah and what's that?" I say laughing at his antics. He's 17, nearly 18, and acts more like a child than most kids do.

"Complaining about the dhampir and Moroi of course. What else is there to do? Except you know, point out every mistake they've ever made." He says trying to be funny. I can't help but smile at him though. Idiot.

We walk into the room and already, most people are here sitting in the teams we've been assigned to for this whole thing. I guess I better go sit next to Dimitri and Mason then. Oh and look. There's two seats left. One next to Mason and the other next to Dimitri. Just my luck. Christian and I go to the table where they're at and both Mason and Dimitri immediately look up.

"Hey Rose. Excited?" Mason asks with a giant smile. No. I'm not excited. You're going to try and kill my people... I don't say that of course. Instead I just say how excited I am and how cool it's all going to be. Thankfully Mason buys it but I don't think Dimitri does. Fuck. I'll have to compell him. It's easier that way. I easily use a bit of compulsion just by looking in his eyes quickly to make him change his mind. Ah, how easy does Spirit make life? Oh yeah. Very easy. Christian goes to sit by Mason, leaving the only place available next to Dimitri. So that's where I end up sitting. Next to Dimitri. Right next to him. Focus Charlie.

"What exactly is going on then?" I ask whilst leaning forward in my seat a bit.

"We have to work out our own strategy for the team we're in. That's it, I think." Dimitri answers looking straight into my eyes.

"So, what's the strategy?" Christian speaks up, wondering what we're going to do next.

"I don't know. Anyone got any ideas?" Dimitri replies and everyone is silent for a few moments. Well, if no-one is going to say anything...

"We should figure out who's guarding Christian. Me or you, Mason." I say confidently, looking straight at Mason. I already have a strategy in my head that will be helpful in keeping people away from my race.

"Mason, should do it." Dimitri says quickly. He's not trying to get time alone with me is he? He is. I can see it through his aura. "Rose has more experience in real life combat..." He says trailing off. We all know what he means. Spokane. I meet Mason's eyes and they are full of hurt. Spokane was nothing for me. I've been through worst than anyone here except for my team maybe. That's pretty much the same for us all. And I have more experience in real life fighting than they know. I've killed more than just 2 Strigoi. I mean, seriously.

"That's a good idea actually. Rose should go up with Belikov and I'll guard Christian. Done. What else?" Mason says rapidly, showing his enthusiasm. Looking at everyone's auras in the room, they all show enthusiasm for this but I think it's more to do with the fact that they might get to kill one of us first.

"We need to think of how we are going to do the whole thing. Tactics. So we have two novices, a guardian and a fire using Moroi. We should use Christian's abilities but only in certain situations." Dimitri says clearly.

"Why?" Mason asks.

"Because we don't want humans finding us out. That would just complicate things." I say and Mason nods in understanding while Dimitri looks at me with a proud gaze. I'm not his student anymore. "We shouldn't go out in public either. These Hunters will most likely be hiding and we should use surprise to our advantage. They are faster and have more advanced hearing than we have and probably compared to Strigoi as well so they will most likely know if we are there." I say. It's the truth. We have more advanced senses and can literally smell dhampirs and Moroi before they get near us. But most of us don't run if we see one. They don't usually notice what we are and usually just think we're dhampirs or Moroi.

"That's impressive Rose." Mason says nodding at my every word.

"Yeah. I know. Anyway. Christian should use his fire to block off any exits and if someone is being attacked then use it then too." I say. The blocking off exits part is true but not in the way they think it is. Instead, if they get too close then Christian will block it off by fire 'accidentally' to keep them away from my kind.

"Great. Mason, you'll have to be with Christian at all times and will have to be extra cautious. Rose and I will go ahead a bit but not by much and make sure everything's okay." Dimitri says quickly but clear. He's just as excited for this... It makes me sick. These people are excited for death. In my world, death is a somber occasion, even if it's a creature that dies because most of them were human once and a lot of them were turned into monsters against their will.

I don't see the point in this. We've already got this figured out. So while everyone else is still thinking of strategies, we all end up just talking about... well Hunters.

"They're monsters. I'd rather a Strigoi than them." Mason says with disgust in his voice.

"I agree." Dimitri says. They're really going to talk about this aren't they? It's not like I can stop them. That'll raise questions. And that can't happen. "They deserve to be wiped out." He says and his voice takes a dark and menacing tone, just like any of these people do when they talk about us. Except for Adrian and Christian that is.

"I really hope we find one so we can kill it. We'd be saving so many lives." Mason says. Saving lives? More like killing them. These people won't even be able to comprehend how many lives we save by killing the creatures that we do. They are the killers. Not us. But the Moroi and Dhampirs aren't ready for that information yet. They are too childish as a species to do so. Too easily controlled. None of them can think for themselves except for a certain two who for some reason trust us.

I start to clench my fists and I can feel myself getting angry. It's hard not to when people you care about start saying how much they want to kill you. Even if they don't know that they are, in fact, referring to you. But I see this everyday. It's nothing new. But it doesn't get easier either. I wish it would though.

* * *

**Chapter 12-Complicated Situations**

"Just a few werewolves in an academy in Italy, 5 skin-shifters in Russia and vampires in 3 academies in Turkey, Russia and England. That's it. How's the training with the Moroi going?" My friend Sydney asks me over the phone. I had expected more attacks than this but it seems like they're building up for something. We still don't know if they can cross the wards in every academy but no-one wants to risk it. They haven't gotten anywhere near the academies yet but that could change if they start to figure out that we have people in each academy.

"The training is going well. Christian Ozera is adapting to our way of fighting quickly as well as Adrian but their reflexes are fast because they're Moroi. It's useful. Christian is improving in fire combat. We've sort of re-learnt him everything because the Moroi way is... well, crap. But he's good. Adrian is at the moment only working on telekinesis and telepathy. I find it easier for him to just concentrate on those two first but he's improving rapidly. He'll be ready for combat soon. As long as they use their elements only that is." I tell Sydney. I sound like a teacher. Christ.

"Hand to hand combat not going so well?" Sydney asks me curiously.

"Nope. If they had a bit of muscle on them and were stronger then we wouldn't have much of a problem but Moroi lead an easy life and as a consequence of that lifestyle they have no strength. We've just got them running a lot basically. It's slowly working." I tell her. I'm so tired. The last 5 days I've missed my lessons and have been training Adrian in Spirit using and then sorting out the academy teams and making sure everything is going smoothly. I've given up on my studies. I've already done them when I was a kid anyway.

"You sound tired." Sydney states to me like a fact. She could always read people so perfectly, even just by their voice.

"I am. I've been so busy with everything. I haven't even gotten round to Viktor yet. Probably because I haven't talked to anyone and have been at the lake for the past five days. I haven't been in lessons because there isn't any point and I've been training the two Moroi for the past few days. And then the field experience is happening in two days and I have so much to do." I tell her and I notice just how tired I sound. I don't even want to think about how tired I look.

"You need to rest Charlie. You work too much." She tells me and I outwardly scoff at her. I work too much? Hypocrite. She works more than me. I mean, Sydney lives on coffee for fuck sake. Literally.

"Yeah, I know. I will. I need to. Look I gotta go Syd. Some news about the field experience in the hall apparently. I'll talk to you later, k?" I tell her before I round the corner where I can sense Christian and Adrian are waiting for me.

"Yeah. Okay. Bye." She says and I hang up the phone before I greet the two Moroi waiting for me. "Hey. What's the big news then?" I ask them both before yawning.

"You need to sleep Little Hunter." Adrian says with a smile. They both know how tired I've been recently and how much I've been working. "Apparently it's only for the people going on the field experience so that means you, Sparky, Eddie and Tyler. I'm not invited." Adrian says with a smile on his face. After that he quickly walks away without saying anything else. That's more like the Adrian I know. Ever since he found out he's been a bit different but his aura put that down as shock. Thankfully he's getting back to normal.

"We should go. Find out what they all want." Christian says before we walk to the hall where we meet Eddie and Tyler waiting for us and all sit down in the back where no-one can hear us and we can watch the crowd more efficiently. Everything we do is somehow a strategy nowadays.

Alberta Petrov, the head guardian, then walks up to the podium in the center of the room and shouts for everybody to quieten down. There's a total of 20 novices, all from the senior year, in the room, 10 guardians, 6 Moroi students and 3 adult Moroi in the room who are all coming with us in two days. That makes a total of 39 of us as well as the 11 guardians from court, which makes 50. I don't even know where we're going yet.

"Okay. Well. Here it is. I know you've all been wondering where this whole field experience will take part and I can safely say that it is indeed Seattle we're going to. Apparently there is a large number of Hunters and Elementals there and all of you here as well as other official guardians from court, will be going there." Alberta says confidently. Seattle? Well, no shit, there's a big number of us there. It's literally the closest city to Mount Zavno. But they will never figure that out.

"And if you would all quieten down, I will tell you the plan." Immediately the crowd, who were all talking about finally knowing where we're going, quieten down and only the barest of whispers can be heard. But that's because of my Hunter hearing. "You'll be put into groups of four, 2 novices, a Moroi and a guardian. The groups are down here and you can come and check them in a second but first I want to tell you of all your roles. The Moroi will be using their elemental magic against these creatures and one novice will be guarding the Moroi while the other novice and guardian go ahead a bit and check the buildings. We'll all be splitting up and given a few buildings to check. All day tomorrow you'll all be in a special class to go over everything in more detail. That's all. You can check what team your in and with who and then leave. We don't know who we're with yet so be patient." She says and immediately we all rush down to the list in the center of the room to check our names. The four of us decide to hang back for a while before checking ourselves to see if anything weird is going on.

After a few minutes half of the room has left and we go to check who we're with. It'd be easier if we were all in different teams because then we have more of a range to cover. But I highly doubt that will happen. We walk down to the list at the front of the podium and everyone but us, a few novices and Alberta is left in the room. Walking up to the list, we stop in front of the paper and quickly look for our names. I see Eddie and Tyler's names are in different groups so that's useful. Eddie's stuck with Stan Alto in his group, gutted. Tyler has drawn the short straw. He has Tasha Ozera in his group. Thankfully it's not me. I'd hunt her instead.

When I come across mine and Christian's name I immediately scowl. The paper says Rosemarie Hathaway, Christian Ozera, Mason Ashford and Guardian Dimitri Belikov. Great. Just great. Well, I'm happy about 3 out of 4 of the people. Now I'll have to talk to him. This doesn't help the fact that I'm trying to stay away from him. Fuck.

I turn around and run my hands through my long hair before walking out of the large room. This is just what I needed. Cool.

"Belikov huh? That's gonna work out well." Tyler says behind me, trying not to laugh.

"Don't push it Ty." I say but I can't help but laugh a bit at the end. This is kind of funny. Probably not to Dimitri though. "Look. Let's just go see the others and train a bit. Come on." I say while I make my way towards Adrian and the others at the front of the church.

"Who've you got?" Jacob asks us once we reach them. Tyler and Eddie tell them their groups and start arguing over which is worst.

"Dude, I got Alto. That's bad." Eddie exclaims to us all.

"Yeah, well I got Tasha Ozera. So I win." Tyler says with such annoyance that we all burst into laughter.

"No. You don't. I do." I announce to the others.

"Why?" Emily asks me curiously.

"I got Dimitri Belikov so I, in fact, win." I tell them with a giant frown on my face. At that everybody starts laughing and saying 'You won Clary'. "But I've also got Christian and Mason. So it ain't that bad..." I say trailing off and they immediately start laughing once again.

"Roz... Rose. Can we talk?" I hear from behind me. Dimitri. I know before I turn around who it is. The others are all trying to keep in their laughter while I turn around to see him.

"Uh. Why?" I ask him. Why does he want to talk?

"About tomorrow and..." He trails off when he glances at the others behind me. He wants to talk about us so it won't be awkward... Fuck. I have to, don't I?

"Yeah sure." I tell him and he turns around and heads a few metres away from the others, close but not close enough that they can hear. But they can because of our advanced hearing. One of the downsides of our enhanced abilities. They hear everything. "So... what do you want to talk about?" I ask him, glancing around to the others who are all laughing at the situation. Still.

"It's about tomorrow. We're in the same group and I... I don't want it to get awkward. I know..." He says but he stops for some reason. His eye narrow in anger and I can see his fists clench but he's not looking at me. He's looking over my shoulder to someone. I look over my shoulder and I'm met with Tasha and her condescending smirk. I notice that she's swaying her hips more, trying to be attractive for Dimitri, trying being the operative word here, but it looks like he... hates her. I wonder what happened there.

"Dimka. There you are. I've been looking for you everywhere." She says sending a flirtatious smile in Dimitri's direction. Or trying to anyway...

"Go away Tasha." He says through clenched teeth. I look at the others and they all start making their way over to us. Great. Just what I need. A crowd.

"Why Dimka?" Tasha says trying to sound innocent, and failing. Big time.

"Maybe you should leave Tasha. Dimitri and I were having a conversation." I tell her and look into her eyes, daring her to do something. Please. Please give me a reason to hit you.

"Why should I do what you say? You're nothing but a little slut. You think you're better than everyone don't you? But you're not. You're just a little girl with mummy issues." She says with a cruel sneer to her voice. Did she just... Did she just say mummy issues? Eddie and Shane immediately grab my arms and pull me back.

"Don't Rose." They both say to me. Tasha is smiling at her victory from my reaction.

"Back off Tasha, leave Roza alone." Dimitri says stepping forward and looking at Tasha like looks could kill. Right now, I wish they could.

"Why are you standing up for her Dimka? She broke your heart." Tasha says to him and I can see his stance soften immediately. His aura starts swirling with sadness but, for some reason, there is also hope. He starts to say something but I interrupt first.

"Just leave Tasha. None of us need some desperate love-struck bitch like you around." I say to her and she immediately stomps away in annoyance. Take that bitch. "I'll see you guys later. We still need to talk." I say to the others and they all nod and turn away but not before Eddie whispers into my ears.

"Forget what she said about your mum, Charlie. She's talking about Janine, not your real mum." He says in a low and quiet tone so no-one else can hear. I look at him with a thankful expression.

"I know." I tell him before he walks away. I know that she meant Janine but still... just the memory of my mum hurts. I remember the night she died more clear than anything... "Let's talk then." I say and walk to the corner of the church where people can't see us so clearly.

"Roza. Are you okay?" He asks me and puts his hand on my cheek in a loving way that I nearly forget that this shouldn't be happening.

"Don't do that." I tell him while I pull his hand away. "What did you want to talk about?" I say in a way that I hope makes him think that I don't care.

"Just about tomorrow. It'll be okay right? Not awkward?" He asks and his voice is starting to break and there are unshed tears threatening to fall down his face. Why do I have to keep hurting him? I thought it was over. But no. Apparently fate thinks I haven't hurt enough in my life.

"Yeah fine. Why wouldn't it be?" I say with a fake smile but I don't think he noticed.

"Okay good. I'll see you tomorrow then." And he then rapidly walks away with his head held down. I don't want to hurt him. I hate it. But I have to. I just have to.

Walking to where the others are waiting, we all quietly make our way to the edge of the forest where we can talk without people hearing. "What happened?" Emily asks when we sit down and she goes to touch my shoulder in a friendly way.

I explain to them what happened and I am met with sympathetic looks all around. They all know about the situation with Dimitri but it's not like we can be together. No matter how much I want it. "But it doesn't matter. We all know that. So let's just leave it." I ask them and they all nod. We end up just chatting about the academy itself and all the gossip and I can't help but smile at this group that I have come to call family.

Before we know it, it's the end of the day and we're in the cafeteria talking about the field experience coming up soon.

"So exactly what are you going to do?" Adrian asks us while leaning back on his seat.

"I'll tell some Hunters and Elementals to leave if there are guardians in the area but, of course, this is Seattle. There are usually hunts going on and we'll have to keep the vamps and dhamps away from those areas or if there's a werewolf or skin-shifter or whatever else is out at the time, we'll have to hunt it but without alerting the others to what we're doing." I tell them all the plan and the idea of what we need to do.

"Dean and Sam will be there to handle any problems if we can't. They'll be close to us at all times. Dean will be with Tyler and Sam will be with Eddie and if anything happens with Clary and Christian, then they'll have to call a Hunter with her telepathy." Scott explains.

"What if they get one of your people?" Christian asks with a worried expression on his face.

"Then we wing it." I say simply. I've been thinking about that a lot. What if they get one of our people? We can't just stand back. We'll probably have to use some tricks to make sure that doesn't happen. An hour later and we've all left to our dorms for tomorrow. It's gonna be a busy day.

I'm so tired. Sydney's right. I need to sleep. Especially if I'm going to go Seattle for this 'experience' as the Moroi and dhampirs are calling it. They treat it like it's a field trip and not what it actually is, which is them going to try and kill innocent people. Immediately, I fall asleep on my bed, entangled in the blankets covering it and fall asleep.

* * *

Flashes of red and orange streak my vision and I can barely breathe, the smoke is that heavy. I turn to the door where I hear the screaming that pierces my ears. I don't see anything but my Dad talking to me in front of a background of what appears to be flames. The colours are everywhere but I can't hear a thing anymore. The noise just stopped, and thankfully, so did the screams. I feel a hand on my arm pulling me away from the scene. I start to move but it's not me. My mind says stop but my body won't listen. My legs keep moving even though I say stop. Well, I think it. I have no control over myself. It's like I'm possessed. But I'd know if I was. So that can't be it. I run out of our little family home and only then do I see the person who pulled me away. My brother Dean is standing there with his arm across my shoulder, pulling me into a hug. Sam, my other brother, is standing on the other side of Dean and Jon and Chase, my other two brothers, stand behind us. I barely notice my Dad running out of the house because all I can see is a black figure in the room that seems to be burning.

That's when I remember. My mother's death. I need to wake up. I can't be asleep anymore. It's too much. I try to force myself to wake up but I don't know how.

* * *

I wake up with a start and find my hair clinging to my forehead from my nightmare and it's cold sweat that happens every time. The nightmares are different most nights. Different ways. Different images. But all with the same outcome. Her death. Why did she have to die? She was the most caring person there ever was and she died. It's not fair. But life's not fair. I learnt that lesson a long time ago. I still am in a way.

I pull myself out of bed and force myself to take a shower before heading down to Alto's classroom. Alberta told us yesterday that we should get up early and go straight to Alto's classroom in the morning as that is where we will most likely spend most of the day. This whole thing wouldn't be as bad if Dimitri wasn't there. Him being there complicates things. I won't be able to concentrate.

Within a few minutes, I'm with Eddie, Tyler and Christian and we're on our way to Alto's.

"Is this going to last all day because I have things to do." Tyler whines next to me.

"Yeah and what's that?" I say laughing at his antics. He's 17, nearly 18, and acts more like a child than most kids do.

"Complaining about the dhampir and Moroi of course. What else is there to do? Except you know, point out every mistake they've ever made." He says trying to be funny. I can't help but smile at him though. Idiot.

We walk into the room and already, most people are here sitting in the teams we've been assigned to for this whole thing. I guess I better go sit next to Dimitri and Mason then. Oh and look. There's two seats left. One next to Mason and the other next to Dimitri. Just my luck. Christian and I go to the table where they're at and both Mason and Dimitri immediately look up.

"Hey Rose. Excited?" Mason asks with a giant smile. No. I'm not excited. You're going to try and kill my people... I don't say that of course. Instead I just say how excited I am and how cool it's all going to be. Thankfully Mason buys it but I don't think Dimitri does. Fuck. I'll have to compell him. It's easier that way. I easily use a bit of compulsion just by looking in his eyes quickly to make him change his mind. Ah, how easy does Spirit make life? Oh yeah. Very easy. Christian goes to sit by Mason, leaving the only place available next to Dimitri. So that's where I end up sitting. Next to Dimitri. Right next to him. Focus Charlie.

"What exactly is going on then?" I ask whilst leaning forward in my seat a bit.

"We have to work out our own strategy for the team we're in. That's it, I think." Dimitri answers looking straight into my eyes.

"So, what's the strategy?" Christian speaks up, wondering what we're going to do next.

"I don't know. Anyone got any ideas?" Dimitri replies and everyone is silent for a few moments. Well, if no-one is going to say anything...

"We should figure out who's guarding Christian. Me or you, Mason." I say confidently, looking straight at Mason. I already have a strategy in my head that will be helpful in keeping people away from my race.

"Mason, should do it." Dimitri says quickly. He's not trying to get time alone with me is he? He is. I can see it through his aura. "Rose has more experience in real life combat..." He says trailing off. We all know what he means. Spokane. I meet Mason's eyes and they are full of hurt. Spokane was nothing for me. I've been through worst than anyone here except for my team maybe. That's pretty much the same for us all. And I have more experience in real life fighting than they know. I've killed more than just 2 Strigoi. I mean, seriously.

"That's a good idea actually. Rose should go up with Belikov and I'll guard Christian. Done. What else?" Mason says rapidly, showing his enthusiasm. Looking at everyone's auras in the room, they all show enthusiasm for this but I think it's more to do with the fact that they might get to kill one of us first.

"We need to think of how we are going to do the whole thing. Tactics. So we have two novices, a guardian and a fire using Moroi. We should use Christian's abilities but only in certain situations." Dimitri says clearly.

"Why?" Mason asks.

"Because we don't want humans finding us out. That would just complicate things." I say and Mason nods in understanding while Dimitri looks at me with a proud gaze. I'm not his student anymore. "We shouldn't go out in public either. These Hunters will most likely be hiding and we should use surprise to our advantage. They are faster and have more advanced hearing than we have and probably compared to Strigoi as well so they will most likely know if we are there." I say. It's the truth. We have more advanced senses and can literally smell dhampirs and Moroi before they get near us. But most of us don't run if we see one. They don't usually notice what we are and usually just think we're dhampirs or Moroi.

"That's impressive Rose." Mason says nodding at my every word.

"Yeah. I know. Anyway. Christian should use his fire to block off any exits and if someone is being attacked then use it then too." I say. The blocking off exits part is true but not in the way they think it is. Instead, if they get too close then Christian will block it off by fire 'accidentally' to keep them away from my kind.

"Great. Mason, you'll have to be with Christian at all times and will have to be extra cautious. Rose and I will go ahead a bit but not by much and make sure everything's okay." Dimitri says quickly but clear. He's just as excited for this... It makes me sick. These people are excited for death. In my world, death is a somber occasion, even if it's a creature that dies because most of them were human once and a lot of them were turned into monsters against their will.

I don't see the point in this. We've already got this figured out. So while everyone else is still thinking of strategies, we all end up just talking about... well Hunters.

"They're monsters. I'd rather a Strigoi than them." Mason says with disgust in his voice.

"I agree." Dimitri says. They're really going to talk about this aren't they? It's not like I can stop them. That'll raise questions. And that can't happen. "They deserve to be wiped out." He says and his voice takes a dark and menacing tone, just like any of these people do when they talk about us. Except for Adrian and Christian that is.

"I really hope we find one so we can kill it. We'd be saving so many lives." Mason says. Saving lives? More like killing them. These people won't even be able to comprehend how many lives we save by killing the creatures that we do. They are the killers. Not us. But the Moroi and Dhampirs aren't ready for that information yet. They are too childish as a species to do so. Too easily controlled. None of them can think for themselves except for a certain two who for some reason trust us.

I start to clench my fists and I can feel myself getting angry. It's hard not to when people you care about start saying how much they want to kill you. Even if they don't know that they are, in fact, referring to you. But I see this everyday. It's nothing new. But it doesn't get easier either. I wish it would though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has read this. If you wanna ask a question, go ahead. I'll try to update soon but I might not be able to as I've got a lot of school work and the only way I have updated this quick for the past three chapters is because I've had a few days of no revision. Thank God. :)


	14. Chapter 13-Hunters vs Werewolves

**Chapter 13-Hunters vs Werewolves**

**Unknown POV**

"The hunter won't know what hit her." An eery voice speaks up from the darkness. "All shall fall by my hand. Monsters will rule this world. The ground will be drenched in the blood of our enemies, and the cries and screams of humans, Moroi and dhampirs will be remembered for eons by my kin."

From the shadows, a figure remains. Cloaked in black, face hidden in the dark depths. Nothing is seen. The remains of hated foes lay by it's feet. The creature, holding a scepter made of bone, stands before his creations, the leaders of vampires and werewolves, skin-walkers and shapeshifters and all manner of monsters, the alphas of their kind.

"Father, what do you wish us to do?" The werewolf asks, head down in submission. Not daring to disrespect their father, otherwise they would be ripped to shreds without hesitation.

"The Winchester girl needs to die. She stands in the way of my plans. She must be killed." The figure replied sinisterly. "Send your pack to hunt her down. And make sure she's dead. I want her head on a pike. This will show those Hunters that the end is 'nigh."

In a dark room, blood centuries old covering the walls, a figure sits. Waiting for the day his revenge is done. The day when his children can plunge this world into eternal darkness.

**Clary's POV**

With a silver dagger resting in my hand, I look up to the sky, wondering about the day's ahead. So many things are changing. The war is worsening, monster numbers are growing. I don't understand.

"It'll be okay, Charlie. Don't worry." Eddie says next to me. Sitting on the roof, we're looking for the signal from my brothers, Sam and Dean, so we can finally go forward. It should be here any minute.

Only Eddie, Tyler, Christian and I were picked to come here, the others are all at the academy. Tyler and Eddie are in separate groups to Christian and I, and they both have Hunters, namely my two brothers, following them to check any threats. Sam is with Ty's group while Dean is with Eddie. Toothless is following Christian and I at night from above to help if we run into any large threats like monsters or demons. The other groups have either Hunters or Elementals following them also. As requested by the council.

According to the council, the protection of our kind as well as the dhampirs and Moroi not knowing the true evils of this world are the top priorities today.

All Hunters and Elementals in the area are in hiding at the moment and only people with permission are allowed here. The council have handpicked the best available for today. I hope nothing goes wrong.

"I can't help it, Eddie. I have a bad feeling 'bout this." I say in a worried voice. "But it's probably nothing. Ignore me..." I say after a few seconds of silence. I'm probably being stupid but my senses tell me something is wrong. It's probably nothing.

"Just chill. It'll be fine." He says with a hopeful tone, his hazel eyes skimming the skyline.

"Yeah." I reply with a sigh. Let's hope he's right. A few minutes later the signal is seen. A high pitched sound, only to be heard by my kind, screams from the buildings surrounding us. The others must be ready for us.

Immediately both Eddie and I make our way downstairs to where the others are all waiting. They didn't even notice we'd gone. Nodding to the others we all go to our groups and wait for the guardians to start.

"Is it time?" Christian whispers ever so quietly in my ear.

 _Yes_. I say in my head. He gets the message and waits patiently for this all to start.

The room is bustling with energy at the moment and guardians, Moroi and novices alike are anxious and ready. Beside me, Mason talks about his views of my people and asks Dimitri about his Strigoi kills. The two dhampirs are ready for action, along with the majority of the room.

I notice Alberta walk up to the centre of the room and I immediately look to the others. Eddie and Tyler nod towards my direction, indicating they are ready for this. Let's hope this goes well.

"Okay. Everyone listen up. We have 10 minutes until we're about to leave. I suggest you get your equipment ready." She says before going to check on her own group. Everyone immediately checks their group and all converse about the day ahead. Hopefully it'll be an uneventful day.

Dimitri and Mason immediately go and check their equipment, looking for any holes and tears in the impeccable new gear, mimicking the movements of the rest of the room. Dimitri with his gun and stake and Mason with just a gleaming silver stake. The novices weren't allowed a gun. Not that it'd do any damage to a vampire or witch. At least the stakes are silver, they might have a chance then... If they can get close enough without dying that is.

In the corner, Christian, Tyler, Eddie and I grab our weapons, safely concealed within our clothes. Silver knifes, needles of dead man's blood, holy water, salt as well as so many more. Anything that could help protect us and others from other creatures.

"You got everything?" I ask the others quickly, wanting to get out of here and into some action as quickly as possible.

"Yeah." They all reply in unison and we all walk to our groups, Eddie with Guardian Alto and Tyler with Tasha Ozera, unlucky Ty I guess. Better him than me though.

"Roza, are you okay?" Dimitri says with a worried glint in his eyes.

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" I ask with as much excitement as I can manage. It's hard to be happy and excited. I'm on my way to kill my people, of course not obviously. But these people don't know that.

The next few minutes go by in a blur as I go over all options and all plans. We have prepared for so many different scenarios, hopefully none of them will happen though. But within no time Alberta walks back to the middle of the room and stands straight in front of all the excitement surrounding her.

"Excuse me." She asks the room to which she is greeted by immediate silence. "Okay. You all know the plan. Let's stick to it. All must return by 5:00am, 6 hours from now. Good luck everybody and stay safe. This is an important day for Moroi and dhampirs. Hopefully today is the day we start with ridding this world of evil." The room then erupts into a sound of cheers and yells before people start to file out and go to their destinations.

Earlier, it was decided that each group would have a certain area to patrol as to cover more distance. The more distance covered, the more likely it, apparently, is to find a Hunter or Elemental. My group has been stationed downtown whereas Tyler and Eddie's groups were put closer to the hotel itself.

"Rose. Christian. Come on, let's go." An over excited Mason calls from the doorway where he is stood with Dimitri, both beckoning us over.

"Be careful." I tell Eddie and Ty who just made their way over. "I'll keep in touch with you all though a telepathic link. If you need us, we'll be there." I quickly mention before leaving towards Mason and Dimitri.

 _Same goes for you Charlie. Be careful._ Eddie says before both him and Tyler leave towards their groups.

 _Dean, Sam. You ready?_ I patiently ask my brothers.

 _Ready as we'll ever be, Charlie._ Dean replies confidently. Nodding towards Christian, we walk down the stairs towards the lobby where a number of black SUV's are waiting for us. How hidden of them. This is not obvious at all...

Dimitri and Mason are both waiting by the doors and fall in step with us once we reach them.

"So. Christian, ready to use some fire?" Mason asks enthusiastically.

"Please. Pyro will end up firing our asses before he does a Hunters." I say, playing along with the dhampir.

"Don't tempt me Rose." Christian says with a smirk directed my way.

"You may have to. There is a chance we will run into Hunters and Elementals. If we do, you can't hesitate. A mistake like that will kill you." Dimitri offers, joining our conversation and turning it from happy and playful to grim and determined.

A silence falls over our group while we climb into the car full of dhampirs and Moroi. Talk about being in the heart of the enemy... In the car, Mason rides up front with another guardian while I'm stuck between Pyro and Dimitri in the middle with another two Moroi and a Guardian in the back. It only takes us about 10 minutes or 20 to reach our destination and all along the journey I notice Dimitri glancing at me worriedly. Every so often I catch his stare and he quickly diverts his attention to something else.

 _You remember the fighting skills we taught you?_ I ask Christian, reminding him of our lesson in fire magic as well as a bit in actual combat.

Christian- _Of course I do. And if I need to, I'll use them. You can count on me._

 _I know._ I reply.

"Our stop guys." Mason says before jumping out of the car. The rest of us hurriedly step out onto the pavement before the SUV drives away to it's next stop. Hunters are probably stalking the car as it goes to keep an eye on them. Before we left, Tyler and I had found the plans in Alberta's office for the expedition as per order from the Elders, and a Hunter took them there quickly to know exactly where everyone was. This way it's easier for us to keep them clear from certain areas of the city, like the vampire nest at the marina or the places where there is a current case.

"We'll start in the alleys and back of the buildings first. Later on, we'll check the club over there." Dimitri points towards a club down the street. "Keep close." We all walk to the alleys and walk along the shadows, keeping our covers.

I can't sense anything around us that's in the immediate vicinity. Just a few in the club, most likely vampires or witches. Nothing major... I do notice Dimitri and Mason checking every crevice though, looking with hope in their auras. Yet, they don't notice that there is a Hunter standing there, right behind them...

A few hours later and we've found nothing. At the moment we have an hour left until we need to return. According to the others nothing has happened with other groups either. Just a few vampires who got a bit too close but the dhampirs and Moroi didn't even notice.

"You think anyone else has found something?" Mason exclaims, tiredness taking over his tone. He seems to becoming bored. I don't blame him. I'm getting quite bored myself.

A few minutes later, I notice a large number of were-wolves heading my way. I've been keeping track of all creatures I can sense but these are travelling fast as if they are running towards a... hunt.

 _Guys. Problem here. Wolves coming up behind us fast._ I tell the others quickly. Looking towards Christian to see if he got my message, I see his eyes widen in shock.

Sam- _How many and how long?_ Sam asks whilst most likely calling some Hunters to sort it out.

 _20-something and about a few minutes away. Christian, I'll need a distraction. I'm gonna get us inside the club and you're gonna have to cover me._ I announce before setting my rushed plan into action.

"We have an hour left. Shouldn't we try the club now?" I say, hoping they'll take the bait.

"Roza is right. Let's go." Dimitri announces before we all make our way through the back door. Sneaking into the club, we're met with loud dubstep music and a crowd of sweaty dancing bodies. We all split up, Dimitri going to the left of the crowd and Mason and Christian going to the right, both standing on the outside while I make my way through the middle.

I only have a minute or two left so I have to act fast. My short height helps hide me from the others while my speed can help get me out without anyone noticing. Pushing my way though the crowd, I duck under the arms of sweaty men and avoid the watchful eyes of Mason and Dimitri at the same time.

 _Christian. If they ask questions, cover for me._ I ask whilst getting a hold of my gun full of silver bullets.

Christian- _Why? Where are you going?_ Christian asks, looking at me through the crowd.

_I'm going to fight the werewolves. Dean, Sam. Send some people my way._

Dean- _No need Charlie. We're outside. We got some Hunters to cover for us and take our place._ Dean answers whilst I sense two Hunters outside the club in the alley.

Okay I'll be there in a sec. Chris. If they start wondering where I am. Just say you can see me. I'll be back in a bit. I say before running out as fast as I can so no-one notices my sudden disappearance. I'll have to get Sam to wipe the footage tonight.

Reaching the alley, I see my brothers crouched down in the shadows with Toothless waiting for me.

"Round the back of that building." I say, pointing to the building and it's car park across the street. "Let's meet them there." I say before the three of us hurriedly sprint across the street and Toothless flies into the sky so no-one can see him. The werewolves are nearly here. Any second now.

"Be careful. There's people around." Sam mentions before 20-odd werewolves jump over the fence, thankfully hidden by the shadows of the buildings around it.

The wolves all stop. Not moving a muscle. Just growling slightly in warning.

Sam- _It's a whole pack_. Sam says, his voice sounding shocked.

I did say it was like 20 Sammy. I mention. Suddenly, the wolves charge at us and we all start fighting. Our guns out in front of us, managing to take down 7 with a shot to the head quickly.

Toothless quickly lands in front of us, pushing 12 away to the wall they jumped over. The others all charge us rapidly, missing our bullets. With a gun in one hand and a silver machete in the other, my brothers and I fight the wolves surrounding us. Their silver eyes gleaming in the light of the full moon.

Real werewolves aren't like the ones you see in films nowadays. They aren't creatures who can turn into a wolf covered in fur but look more like a human-like creature with bright silver eyes and large fangs, as well as enhanced speed, strength and senses. Only turning on a full moon unless born as a werewolf or directly from the alpha, werewolves are immune to conventional weapons like normal bullets. The only way to kill a werewolf is by silver to the head or heart. They survive by feeding on human hearts, although they will eat a dhampirs or Moroi if they had to. Also, a bite from a werewolf can turn you into one of these creatures and is a danger when fighting closely with them. This threat only increases when fighting a pack... Lucky us I guess.

From behind me, a werewolf runs towards me and gets ready to plunge his hand and claws into my chest from behind but I quickly turn and use my telekinesis to push him backwards before reaching me. Whilst I do this though, a werewolf charges at me from my left and manages to push me onto the floor.

Straddling my waist, it tries to tear at my chest with it's claws but my arm manages to keep it far enough away so I'm not in any danger of being bit. When I fell, both my gun and machete were dropped and my machete is only a meter or so away. If I could just use my telekinesis, I could push it towards me. Doing just that, my black leather handle falls to my hand silently and the werewolf still hasn't noticed it whilst it tries to bite me ferociously.

Swinging my arm in an arc, the head of the wolf falls clean off and I push off the body and grab my gun to shoot the wolves surrounding my brothers. Picking off about 6 werewolves, I run towards my brothers. Out of the 23 werewolves first here, only 6 wolves are left. But all of a sudden, the 6 remaining wolves charge towards me, completely bypassing my brothers.

Raising my gun, I hurriedly aim at the heads of the six creatures and fire, not dropping my arm until they're all dead. Thank God our guns have silencers or this would be a hell of a lot of noise. And that would just raise questions.

When the last wolf drops dead, I'm pulled into a hug by my brothers.

"Clary. Are you okay?" My brother, Dean, asks me. His green eyes raking me over for any injuries whilst holding onto my shoulders with a firm grip.

"I'm fine Dean. What about you and Sammy? You guys okay?" I say whilst also checking them over for any bites.

"We're fine, Charlie." Sam announces before pulling us both into a large hug by my 6" something brother. "That was a lot of wolves." He utters, his hazel eyes glancing at the 23 dead bodies around us.

"Well, they're dead now." Dean states. " Sense anything else?" He asks me.

"No. Nothing important." I tell them, my hand coming down to scratch the head of the night-fury laying at my feet like a dog.

"I'll call some Hunters to get here and clean up the bodies now. You should get to the club so they don't start wondering where you are and asking questions." Dean says whilst Sam already starts to pull a phone out and call the Hunters closest to the area.

"Yeah. I will." I say quickly before starting to walk back to the club across the street.

"Wait. Guys come here. This one isn't dead yet." Sam says from where he has his machete pointed at a werewolf on the ground. Dean and I immediately walk over and see the male werewolf with silver eyes looking at us in a fierce expression. His hand covering a fatal wound to his heart.

"We might of failed but your still not safe. Others will come to do what we couldn't." The wolf growls out at us. "He'll send more your way. You'll die soon, all of you. The end will come."

"The end? What's the end? Why now?" Sam asks in disbelief, his machete at the neck of the werewolf.

"Say goodbye to your world Winchesters." He says before sucking in his last breath. His hand falls from his wound and Dean checks his pulse. Shaking his head at us when he pulls away.

"Check if the others are dead." Dean mutters, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. We all quickly doubly check, but none are alive. Hunters jump over the fence and Dean goes to talk to them while Sam walks me back to the club. It's nearly 5am now and we'll have to return back to everyone else soon.

"Be careful Charlie. We'll meet you back at the cabin later okay? If anything happens, tell us." Sam tells me before pulling me into a hug which I quickly return.

"Ditto. Get someone to wipe the footage will you?" I ask him and he nods his head towards me. With a goodbye smile and a wave, I use my enhanced speed to run back into the crowd and make it look like I never left.

 _I'm back. Everything okay here?_ I announce to the others.

Christian- _Yeah. It's fine. I've been able to distract them. Where are you?_ Christian answers, still looking around for me from where I can see him.

 _Next to the beam at the front corner of the bar._ I tell him.

Christian- _I see you. Werewolf situation okay?_ He asks, his ice blue eyes meeting my brown ones. I notice him motion to Dimitri and Mason to where my location is. Mason smiles at me, while Dimitri just looks relieved and happy.

 _Yeah, we killed them all._ I state casually. Smirking on the inside.

Eddie- _How many were there, Charlie?_ I hear Eddie ask in my head.

_23._

Tyler- _Holy shit. That's a whole pack._ Tyler offers, shock lacing his tone.

_Yep. It was that 'end' thing. It sounds like they were sent here. I'll explain it later okay?_

Eddie- _Yeah sure. It's nearly five anyway. I'll see you in a bit I guess._ Eddie mentions quickly.

Christian- _See ya then_. Christian says whilst he, Mason and Dimitri make their way towards where I am near the bar.

"Hey. Where'd you go?" Mason asks me when the three of them reach me.

"What'd you mean? I was in the crowd." I utter, feigning innocence.

"Yeah. She was in the crowd. I saw her. It's probably because she's so short. Can't see her under all those people." Christian says with a smirk.

"Ha-ha, Pyro. You're so funny." I say sarcastically before hitting him in the shoulder.

"Well, at least you're here." Dimitri says before looking at his watch. "It's nearly five. The car will be here any second." He mentions before we all start to leave the club and step outside in the cold night air.

Right on time, the black SUV drives up to the curb and we all climb into the leather seats. Driving away, we reach the hotel in no time and all groups are inside, telling everybody what happened in their area. And surprisingly, the same thing happened to all the groups. Nothing.

Noticing Eddie and Ty, Christian and I walk up to them and I start explaining to them what happened in a secluded corner of the room.

Who sent the werewolves? And why? The others are all just talking about werewolves and explaining them to Christian while my mind goes into overdrive trying to explain this whole situation. What's going on?

**Unknown POV**

In the shadows, a figure stands before a quivering werewolf. Dark red blood streaming down the wolfs face. It's silver eyes looking helplessly at the ground. The figure kicks the wolf in the ribs, pushing it's body down the steps before sitting back down on it's large throne.

"I'm sorry Father. I can kill her if you give me another chance. She won't live this time." The werewolf quivers in fear. Begging for a chance. As fast as lighting, the figure rips the werewolfs heart clean out of its bloody chest. The still beating heart thrown to the ground, the mysterious lone figure walks back up to its throne. Blood dripping at it's feet. The figure is encased in darkness, nothing but a sceptre made of bone stands in the light. A menacing energy around the room. Creatures bowing in fear at the figures quick murder of the wolf.

"No more failures. She needs to die." The figure roars, it's subjects screaming in acknowledgement. No more failures. Blood and body parts strewn across the floor, the determination of the figures revenge made anew. The end is near, decimation and destruction will claim this world, plunging the Earth in an eternity of darkness.


	15. Chapter 14- Attack Of The Strigoi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. I'm so sorry that it's taken so long to update, (5 months to be exact), but life just got in the way. I didn't forget about Hunting The Hunters. I've just been so busy with nonstop exams, then coursework and my Duke Of Edinburgh Expedition Award, my archery, family and everything in between. So I've been a bit busy. Sorry. But I leave school for the summer holidays soon and all my exams finish next week (finally). So I'll be updating more then. Sorry again. If anyone wants to ask me a question or anything message me privately if you want or just leave a review. Thanks, hope you enjoy.

**Chapter 14- The Attack Of The Strigoi**

It's been a few days since the trip and since then everything's been normal. Or as normal as it can be. No new occurrences have happened just yet. Once we got back everything was hectic. The Moroi and Dhampirs wanted every detail from each of us about the trip. But the details were lacking as nothing happened. For them anyway...

After briefing the Moroi about what happened, Christian, Eddie, Tyler and I all went to the others to bring them to speed on what had happened and how we should proceed whilst Sam amd Dean went to Zavno to tell the Elders. Tyler and Eddie went to Mount Zavno as well the day after we returned whilst I stayed here with the others. Since the trip, all we've done is train and train. More and more everyday. The others have been helping me with the patrols on the other academies, who have had increasing attacks. Luckily each one has been stopped before it was too late. But I believe our luck is running out. Or maybe it already has...

Viktor Dashkov. The name itself sends shivers down my spine. An evil disgusting man. One I wouldn't mind sending to hell itself. And he knows. I'm sure he knows. Otherwise why would he look at me and the others during the ceremony.

All of us are worried about this. I hate the man. Despise him even. But... I need to talk to him. Find out the truth. Out of everything going on, this is something relatively easy. It's just the consequences that worry me. But if he knows, why hasn't he told others, and why doesn't he hate our species like the rest of his kind do. It doesn't make any sense.

Talking to Viktor is something I can do. Now. So that's the first thing I'm going to get done. It's one of the things I can control right now. The End is something no-one knows of, let alone understand. The visions both Adrian and I received aren't particularly obvious, Lissa is something I can't control, along with increasing numbers of monsters. I can do this one thing. Tick it off the list. So I might as well.

Adrian and I are standing below his window, looking around for a few seconds before going up and confronting the old man.

"So, we go in and just confront him right?" Adrian asks again, seeming unsure.

"Yep." I say, trying to make him feel better. This is his first real 'mission' per say. Over the past few days, I have been helping him progress with his Spirit training and he has quickly become skilled in basic things. Not enough to fight in a battle but for this, he's strong enough.

"But, what about his guardians?" Adrian asks, his voice wavering. He has a point. But it's a point we've already considered. His guardians are all passed out now. Thanks to my compulsion skills earlier. Throughout the day, I've been trying to compell his guardian to fall asleep for a few hours at a certain time and to not remember anything. Making both our jobs much easier. Completely.

"Asleep. Compulsion,remember?" I ask him, reminding him of our chat earlier.

"Oh yeah. Sorry. Forgot about that." He says, laughing nervously.

"Come on. It's time." I say before grabbing onto the pipes and pulling myself up to the window. Opening the glass window, I turn to help pull Adrian up , as Moroi have near to no body strength, and both of us enter the apartment in the guest building.

Looking around the room, I notice all the guardians asleep on the floor and can only sense one Moroi here, not counting Adrian.

"What the hell?" We hear from the other room. It must be Viktor. Glancing at Adrian, our eyes meet and we both quietly creep towards the door.

"Who's there? Who did this?" Viktor asks to seemingly no-one.

"That'll be us." I say, stepping out of the shadows with Adrian by my side.

"Ah. Rose. I was wondering when you'd come to me. I've been expecting you." Viktor says, visibly relaxing for some reason. He seems too calm.

"Cut the crap, Dashkov. How do you know?" I ask, not wanting to waste time.

"Why do you think I'm the bad guy Rose? Or should I call you Clary?" He says and my breath hitches. How much does he know? "I know everything Clary Winchester. I'm not the bad guy. I want the same as you."

"Not the bad guy? You nearly killed Lissa. You turned your own daughter into a strigoi. You are the bad guy. You're the definition of bad guy." I state, my anger getting the better of me.

"Charlie. Calm down." Adrian says, trying to calm me. "Viktor. Answer the question."

"Of course Adrian. But let me show you instead." Viktor says before stepping forward. "Clary. You are a spirit user, yes?" He asks to which I nod. "Here, look into my memories. You'll see it there." Holding his hand out to me, I'm about to take it when alarms go off. Jumping backwards I quickly look towards Adrian who shruggs in concern.

"What's going on?" Viktor asks us. Looking at his aura, I see worry and concern, he doesn't know what's happening either.

"Wait a sec." I say before pulling the others into a telepathic conversation.

_Hey. Any clue to what the alarms are about guys? I ask the others._

Eddie- _No. What's happening?_. Eddie says.

Christian- _They're pulling Moroi into a safe area. Apparently it's an attack._

 _An attack?_ I ask but quickly scan the surroundings. Nothing close.

_Get the others. I want everyone to meet me in the church._

After making sure everyone is aware and on their way, I turn to Adrian and Viktor and grab their hands before pulling them tthrew the doors.

"What's happening?" Viktor asks, eyes glancing around us as I pull them down the stairs of the building and threw the doors, concealing ourselves in the masses of Moroi being moved.

"An attack apparently. I'm not sure." I answer, hiding ourselves in the shadows.

"Where are we going Charlie?" Adrian asks, eyes open for changes in aura, just like I taught him to do in times of panic.

"Church. It's the safest place and we can carry our conversation on. Come on, let's go." I state, dragging the two Moroi to the large old church when I sense something not far from here. Strigoi... "Quickly, now." I say, urgency taking over my tone.

Rushing up the stairs, I pull open the door to the attic and almost throw the two in. "Strigoi are attacking the academy. You two need to stay here okay. I'll wait here until the others come."

"Strigoi?" Viktor asks, fear taking over his features. "How many?"

Quickly checking, I try and sense the number of Strigoi and I'm shocked at the amount. "Hundreds." I say, turning to look at them, my own eyes wide, expressing their own shock. "I need to tell the Elders."

 _Gaius, Strigoi attack here now. There are hundreds. Do I have permission to fight?_ I ask, needing the permission of the Elders before anything else. If not, then I'll have no choice but to fight. But to do so risks me showing myself.

Elder Craven- _Go. But only you and Shane may show yourserves. They know your related, one will show you both. Try not to though. Tell the others to get to the church. It's safer there._ Elder Craven tells me, warning me of the risks and telling me that help is on the way.

"Charlie." I hear Eddie shout from the stairs, the others running after him.

"Eddie, guys. You need to stay here. The church is safe. Strigoi can't get in here. Fight from here but no using abilities, not unless you have to. The Elders have ordered Shane and I to fight with the dhampirs but not as Hunters. Protect the Moroi. Even Viktor. I'm not done with him yet." I state with an authoritative tone to my voice, glaring hard at Viktor.

"Will do Clary." Tyler answers before Shane and I move out. Quickly grabbing a silver stake from our pile we confiscated from dhampirs and a katana blade each before sprinting out of the church.

"What's the plan cuz?" Shane asks, his stake in his hand, poised to attack.

"Kill as much Strigoi as possible." I tell him eyes watching everywhere. I can sense them quickly making their way inwards, getting closer to the Moroi and dhampirs every second. "I'm sure they've already made a large impact and have most likely broke through the wards around the academy. You know. We'll most likely have to show ourselves today. There's too many of them not to." I say, my black katana blade held between my hands.

"Well then. If today's the day. Let's make it count, 'eh." He says before grinning at me.

"Let's go." I say before the two of us run towards the action and stop just a few metres away from the fight to assess the whole event. From what we can see, it's obvious that the dhampirs stand no chance. Most are already severely injured, some evn dead. And not just guardians, novices and Moroi alike are being killed left, right and center. Their blood pooling on the grass and concrete. Looking towards Shane, we both nod and run towards the battle, staying within the shadows for as long as we can before rapidly jumping out and slashing our way through the Strigoi. Within a few seconds, bodies lay around us, heads fallen off, decapitated, or stabbed through the heart. A circle of Strigoi stand around us, their white skin almost glowing in disgust and red eyes gleaming with fear.

"What are you?" One of them says, cowering before us before snarling and charging with the rest of them.

In unison though, the two of us announce our arrival with a simple sentence. "We're hunters." We say before unleashing our anger on them and fighting our way through the crowd.

Screams and grunts surround me, bombarding my ears. The smell of death hangs in the air and all I see are bodies. Strigoi, Moroi, Dhampirs. Still fighting. The ones that we didn't kill in the minute or so it took us have ran, gone to find easier prey. Leaving us with more open targets.

"You go to the children dorms. They'll be the most helpless right now. Stay alive okay. I'll keep in touch here." I tell Shane, tapping my head, before hugging my cousin tightly. "I'll be here, pulling people out of the fight if I can. I'll see you in a bit."

"See you Charlie." Shane mutters before running in the opposite direction.

Turning back to the fight, I twirl my blade between my hands, picking out my actions for the next few minutes. I look around to see if I notice anyone but all I see is the dead and the soon to be dead.

"Here we go then." I mutter under my breath before running towards a group of dhampirs. A bunch of novice around 10 years old and a Guardian stand in front of the strigoi, helplessly holding them off. They'll only last another second...

"Hey. Bitch. Why don't you pick on someone who won't die straight away?" I call out, tempting the Strigoi for a second. I notice the guardian is none other than Stan Alto and he looks at me helplessly.

"Rose. Run. Don't be a hero." He shouts out, his strength weakening by the minute.

"Yeah, dhampir run." The strigoi taunt before attempting to take down the group while some stupidly come to me. But all of a sudden, I use my heightened speed and run towards the Strigoi in front of Alto and push them back with my telekinesis.

Standing in front of the dhampirs, seperating them from the evil creatures on the other side. I stand strong, wielding my blade in my hand.

"How did you...?" Stan says, backing up in fear of me instead of the strigoi.

"I'm not the monster here. I'm here to help." I say before turning to the Strigoi. "What are you doing here? Why attack now?" I ask them.

"The end." One announces before a number of them pounce forward trying to attack me. Not the end. Fuck.

_Guys. Strigoi are here for the end. Call the Elders. I haven't got time. And I've shown myself. Good luck. Be careful._

Shane- _You've shown yourself... I'll take that as a go ahead to do the same then. Stay safe cuz._ He says happily.

Knocking away the Strigoi, I decapitate as much as I can before making a ball of fire in my hand and throwing it at the bastards.

Whilst they are distracted, I turn towards the others, now the only dhampirs closw enough to see what I just did, I hold my hand out in a peace offering but I'm shocked when I see a gun trained at my head.

"Put the gun down. I'm here to help." I say, trying to calm them down.

"Hunter." Alto snarls in disgust.

"Yes. I am. But we're not bad. My people want peace."I say before he cocks the gun and is about to pull the trigger when I pull the gun towards me and it lands in my hand using telekinesis. "We need to leave now. If you stay, you'll die. Let's go." I shout before pushing them with my mind and ignoring their shouts of protest. I'm helping them but they still believe I want them dead.

"You okay there cuz?" I hear from behind me. Shane.

"You get the kids away?" I ask him whilst he helps with grabbing onto some dhampirs and throwing them over his shoulder.

"Yeah. As much as I could. I didn't show myself yet either. Come on. Let's go." He says, helping me carry the other two dhampirs, all together there were four. Two each. Running away from the fight and towards the building where a larger fight was happening, many Moroi and dhampirs were held up inside, with guardians outsode fighting and failing.

Using our speed to reach the door in a few seconds, not being seen by anyone until we reach the door, we cautiously drop the three novices and Alto, being careful of their wounds. In front of me and Shane stand a few dhamps, looking at us with shock at our sudden speed before a novice shouts out 'Hunters' and all of a sudden they run to us, just to find us gone. Yeah, we're that fast.

Running into the middle of the fight, we pull back some dhampirs, namely Alberta who to be killed and push them back.

"Leave this to us. Get the rest of the people inside. Now." Shane announces before setting a near strigoi alight. Further shocking the confused guardians.

"What? How?" Alberta stutters, confused still.

"We're hunters." I say before both of us start setting Strigoi alight and decapitating them while simultaneously protecting the dhampirs.

"Hunters!? You can't be..." A few of them mutter while others start trying to attack us, which causes them to be pushed back slightly.

"Well, we are." Shane says before pushing his silver stake into a strigoi's heart.

"Get them inside Shane. I'll get the others further away." I tell him, before running off towards the treeline. Where a few guardians were still fighting. Scanning the area, I notice a few guardians with a chance, one especially that takes my notice. Dimitri. Fuck.

I see him leaning against a tree, possibly hurt.

I run towards him, at a dhampirs speed so I don't alarm him, dhampirs aren't very co-operative I've recently discovered, thanks Alto. "Dimitri." I shout loudly, causing his head to pick up. I nearly stop from the sight of his pale white face, blood drained out. He seems close to death. Running slightly faster, I rush over to him, kneeling down next to him and quickly checking for any wounds. I find a giant stab wound in his side. That would explain the blood loss.

"Roza. Leave now. Get out of here. There's too many of them." He says, his large hand trying desperately to push me away.

"Oh come on Comrade. You think I can't handle these." I say, laughing lightly. Pulling up his shirt, I see the stake still in his side amd grab onto the hilt. "Okay, I'm going to pull this out quickly okay..." I tell him, ready to heal him with Spirit before he stops me.

"No, Roza, that'll kill me quicker." He says quietly. Losing strength.

"Dimitri. I need to tell you something. And you have to promise not to hate me okay..." I ask warily. Here goes I guess. The one thing I never wanted to do. Tell the truth.

"I could never hate you Roza." He says smiling at me. I think he may hate me in a minute.

"I'm a hunter." I mention, looking down before I hurriedly pull the stake put and heal the wound over just enough to keep him alive but not enough to return his strength. There's no time for it.

"Hunter?l" He shouts with disgust in his tone. I see him physically recoil from me slightly. "You can't be. You can't. No. You're not a monster." He says, almost to himself.

"I know." I say before throwing him over my shoulder and running to the door where Shane is, and putting him down on the ground. I leave hurriedly without saying a word, following Shane outside.

"He knows...?" Shane asks, his hand on my shoulder.

"Just what I thought would happen." I say solemnly. What did I truly expect? He hates my kind. "Let's get this over with." I say before the two of us push back the Strigoi with every ounce of strength we have, setting them on fire everywhere. Putting Dimitri to the back of my mind, I focus everything on the fight, keeping away the guardians who try to kill us, and killing the Strigoi around us.

After ten minutes extra, I check the surroundings for some Strigoi and find only a few left. "Only about 20 left now, Shane. With 50 or so in the forest retreating." I state before both of us quickly rid ourselves of the last 20 or so Strigoi near the academy. But straight away we run towards the forest to catch the rest of the strigoi.

 _Guys. Get our stuff from our rooms and take it to the church attic. It'll be safe there. Bring Viktor to the cabin as well. Toothless will meet you there in a bit._ I tell the others before Shane and I, with no one around to see our true selves, as Moroi and guardians don't know what we are really like. Shane unfold his dragon like wings, and pushes himself into the air. The dark red wings powerfully pushing him into the air as I jump onto Toothless, his midnight black wings quickly pushing him into the sky to meet him, me sitting on his back, we all effortlessly fly through the trees, hunting down the remaining strigoi, remembering to keep the last five alive. They'll need to be interrogated.

Within minutes, the task is completed and all strigoi but five are killed. The five are tied up and are flown back to the cabin where they are put into chains.

"Simple. Right Charlie?" Shane questions from the door, panting out of breath after hours of fighting.

Laughing I answer back, "Yeah simple." I say, before my mind wanders off to Dimitri. I knew that would be the response. It was so startingly obvious.

Lissa. Shit. During the whole fight I had forgot about her. I should check in with the bond. Focusing my thoughts on her, I go into her mind and let her emotions flow through me.

Looking around, I see that she's safe, inside with the royals. At least she's alive.

"Shane, come on. We're taking Toothless to go get Viktor. Quickly." I shout, moving at a million miles a minute.

"Kay. Coming." He says before both of us hop on the black dragon and go to retrieve the strange Moroi.

Quickly fetching Viktor and not stopping while we grab him off the ground within the shadows of the trees where the others surely left him for us and pull him onto Toothless, he sits between me and Shane. Safely secured.

"This is your nightfury, I take it. Impressive" He states in wonder. Leaning a hand down to stroke the dragons neck, he quickly pull it away when Toothless growls at him threateningly. Laughing to ourselves, we arrive at the cabin before throwing Viktor into a van we kept hidden at the cabin after the field experience in seattle, we go to get the strigoi and bring them also, Toothless going ahead to check the aky for dangers. Starting the black sedan up, Shane pulls onto a small unchartered road and speeds down away from the academy. The strigoi gagged in the back but Viktor still asking questions.

"Where are we going?" Viktor asks. His aura laced with curiosity.

"The Elders." Shane says, focussing on getting to Seattle as soon as possible.

"It's time you answered our questions..."


	16. 15. Compulsion, Deception and the Exception

**Chapter 15 - Compulsion, Deception And The Exception**

**Lissa's POV**

Music blaring through the speakers in the large room, people dancing in every available of the room. And if they weren't dancing they were either heavily making out... or heavily drinking. The whole room was covered in sweaty bodies and discarded beer cups.

Listening to the heavy music, I dance in the middle of the make-shift dance floor, swinging my hips to the rhythym of whoever's behind me. The old me would of cared... But the new me. Not so much.

"Lissa...This... So...What... Aaron..." I hear from Camille in front of me, dancing with Jesse Zeklos. Only a few words are able to be made out of because of the loud music blasting my ears. Aaron? Oh. That must be who I'm dancing with.

I used to hate Camille Conta. Thought of her as a stuck up spoilt Moroi who unrightfully looked down on every thing non Royal. I detested her. Hated the way her voice, like many other Royals, grated my ears, annoying me every second I had to listen to it.

Nowadays, I... like her. She's my best friend. I never thought I'd see the day. If Rose had never left in the first place, then maybe I wouldn't of. But thankfully I came to my senses in the dhampirs absence, and got rid of her toxic influence from my life. Christian too. The two were dragging me down. I'm Vassilissa Dragomir, the last of my line. A spirit user. A Royal. I didn't need a dead beat good for nothing dhampir who couldn't follow a simple rule and a Moroi who's parents willingly turned Strigoi around me. With them, I'd never succeed. I'd never become queen.

_But do you really want them gone?_

Now, thanks to them being gone from my life, I have a chance to reach the throne. I haven't spoken to either of them in a while. Before the expedition to Seattle actually. I heard they both went. I heard their best friends now. Always together. The two of them and Adrian and her dhampir friends amd those two Moroi.

_You miss her. And Christian. And even Adrian._

My life is so much better without them. So... so...so much.

_LIAR!_

Shut up!, I say in my head. I... What's going on? This must be my conscience right? Or just some spirit thing?... I don't miss them. I  _don't._ At all. Right? Ugh, I can't make my mind up. I hate them. I do. I don't care about them.

_And you care about Camille Conta, the Royals? Do you? It doesn't seem like you Vassilissa. This isn't you. Realise this..._

I'm imagining this. This voice in my head. The one that constantly talks, constantly hurts. It's not really there. It can't be. At all.

_Vassilissa._

Shut up. Leave me alone!, I scream internally... No reply. Maybe it's gone.

Dancing in the crowd, I feel relief and calm. Everything is fine and normal. Then the music cuts off as two guardians push open the heavy front door. Can't they let us have some fun?

"Everyone out now. There is an attack on the academy." And que the panic. An attack? Impossible. What?

"Camille, let's go." I say breathlessly, panic taking over me. "We need to go." Nodding her head in fear and disbelief, we both run out the door with the rest of the people and guardians awaiting us on the other side. Hurriedly, we're escorted to the hall, where the place is slowly filling up with numerlus guardians and Moroi and dhampirs.

"What's going on?" I ask a guardian standing on the edge of the room, eyes vacant of any emotion. He doesn't answer me. "Omg. An attack. What the hell?" I say to myself although Camille answers.

"I know, are we even safe here?" She replies, hands twirling her blonde hair nervously.

"I have no idea."

_You wish Rose was here. She'd keep you safe._

Leave me alone!, I say to the strange voice in my head. An attack. A strigoi attack. I can feel myself sweating, wringing my palms in nervousness. What can I do? I need to help somehow. But I can't fight. And there isn't much I can do in here, stuck in the large hall.

**Adrian's POV**

"Eddie, guys. You need to stay here. The church is safe. Strigoi can't get in here. Fight from here but no using abilities, not unless you have to. The Elders have ordered Shane and I to fight with the dhampirs but not as Hunters. Protect the Moroi. Even Viktor. I'm not done with him yet." Charlie says, taking the lead position in the situation. Her aura is radiating authority and bravery, but also a bit of worry. I don't blame her. Hundreds of Strigoi? Who wouldn't be worried?

"Will do Clary." Tyler answers before the two run out in typical Hunter speed, so fast that their gone in a second. I don't think I'll ever get used to their speed. Every day I discover more stuff and information about them and their lives, and every day I realise more and more that they aren't the monsters. Not at all.

We are.

"So, what's the plan?" Christian says, flames at his hands ready for combat. Damn, he's eager.

"No-one steps a foot outside this church. Strigoi can't enter holy ground. But, they'll question us if we aren't with them later. Especially if Clary and Shane show themselves. As their closest friends, they'll immediately look to us." Scott says, eyeing up Viktor, keeping an eye on him if he tries anything. They all are. Not that I blame them. I can't help but notice the strangeness and mystery of how he knows about Clary and the others.

"We need to make sure we're with the rest of them so it looks like we're innocent. They won't suspect us as much if we were there. Then, we'd have an alibi." Eddie answers, trying to figure out how to fight the strigoi whilst also being with the rest of the Moroi and dhampirs.

"Bring some people here. Make them see you on their side. And then they'll be safe. Someone is bound to run past soon." Viktor offers. "Then you don't have to leave. But you should probably not show your abilities." He says, tone serious. For some reason, I feel that he doesn't mean us any harm. But I still don't like the bastard.

"That's... not a bad idea. Right, do that." Eddie replies, looking shocked that Viktor was actually helping. "But you can't say a word. At all. Actually it's best if Dashkov stays hidden. Charlie and Shane will want to take him to the Elders, and people will get suspicious if he disappears. If no-one sees him, then they'll assume he was killed or turned." He answers, already moving towards Viktor and making sure he has proper restraints on. Surprisingly, Viktor doesn't complain at his bound hands.

"You'll have to stay here. Alone. But you'll be safe. Once this is over. Clary and Shane will come and get you before anyone has the chance to notice. We can slip you through the back door." Eddie says, looking Viktor in the eye.

All of a sudden, we hear multiple screams outside. "Tyler, Jacob. Go get them. No showing yourselves. I'll stay by the door for you, Viktor will be up here. Adrian gag him quickly." Eddie says, taking over as the leader from Charlie. Following his order, god I sound like a soldier, I gag Viktor with some fabric and seat him down in one of the chairs. "Christian, you can use fire but nothing to big like what we taught you. People will notice the difference. Scott, same goes for you. Only fire techniques the Moroi use and no Earth bending. Em, same with Water. Adrian, it's best if you don't use telekinesis, Moroi and dhampirs don't need to know everything about Spirit just yet." Eddie states, grabbing silver stakes for him, Tyler and Jacob. "Let's go." He says before sprinting down the stairs. Christian and I follow them, on a much slower pace than them.

"Damn Hunters and their speed." I mutter under my breath, Christian chuckling along with me.

"Tell me about it." He says before locking the door behind him, keeping Dashkov locked inside.

Reaching the others, we notice the doors of the church wide open. Luckily for us though, the Strigoi can't enter the church. Through the wide gap in the doorway, I notice all the Strigoi outside, finally truly hearing the screams around us, so loud and frightened.

Walking to the door,Christian and Scott start wielding fire, hot red flames high on their hands. They set fire to a few Strigoi close to us. This, in turn, attracts more of the monsters, causing them to run towards us. Emily brings up some water from the churchs basin, used for the weekly congregations, and throws it towards the Strigoi, pushing the away from Tyler and Jacob who are fighting a few whilst trying to get a few novices and a guardian to the church. Eddie runs toward them, silver stake up and ready, staking a few strigois each. They'll be earning some tattoos soon.

An hour later, and Christian and Scott are still setting Strigoi on fire, although the Strigoi are now pressed against the Churchs premises, not being able to take a step further. Emily and I are helping the young novices and Moroi that we found, keeping them calm. A few guardians and older Moroi and dhampir students are also sat in the midst of the pews of the church. Plenty not doing anything to help.

I get what Charlie meant by how the Moroi and dhampir are both selfish in the end. Plenty of them can fight with their element but plenty choose not to except for one or two. The guardians are also fighting at the front of the church. Killing the Strigoi closest. Many of them have left now. Wanting better prey.

Clary-  _Guys_ , _Strigoi are here for the end. Call the Elders. I haven't got time. And I've shown myself. Good luck. Be careful._ I receive from Charlie. Shown herself? Oh no. Making eye contact with the others, I see if they heard too.

Shane-  _You've shown yourself... I'll take that as a go ahead to do the same then. Stay safe cuz._ I hear in my head fron Shane. Guess everyone will know about them soon enough then. This will cause an uproar.

"Did you hear that?" Emily asks me, pulling me to the side.

"Yeah. They've shown themselves." I whisper, making sure no-one hears us. "How will we tell the Elders?"

"Scott said he text Sam or Dean or someone just now, warning them about what's happening." She answers. Looking me in the eye, she says, "We'll have to get Viktor out of here soon."

"Yeah." I reply, mind trailing off. What does all this mean now? Hopefully people will realise that Hunters aren't bad. That them seeing Clary and Shane helping people will show them the truth... All I can do is hope.

**Dimitri's POV**

"How the hell did get stuck with the perimeter shift eh?" Asks Yuri from beside me, walking by my side. "It's so boring." He complains.

All I do is reply with a grunt. I can't help but think of Roza. I haven't spoken to her since the expedition.

"You're awfully quiet." Yuri says, trying to fill in the silence between us.

Snap. What was that?

"Did you hear that?" I whisper, stepping forward. Stake at the ready.

Snap. "Dimitri. What's there? Do you see anything?" Yuri asks quietly.

Out of nowhere though, two Strigoi jump out at us. Pushing us down from the unexpected appearance, my stake immediately scratches the Strigois chest moving it away from me. Trying to kick the Strigoi back before staking , I roundhouse kick the vampire. Snarling at me, it's fangs and red eyes gleaming in the night. Out of nowhere though Yuri stakes the Strigoi in the back, having quickly and silently staked the other in the heart.

Immediately I grab the phone and text Guardian Petrov.

**From: Dimitri Belikov**

**To: Alberta Petrov**

**Buria.**

After that, Yuri and I start running to the academy, needing to help out with the panic about to arrive. I need to make sure Roza is alright.

"Where are you running dhampirs?" Calls a voice behind us. A strigoi. Both of us stop and turn to face the new threat, only to be met by more than we thought. Around 20 or so stand before us, poised to attack. Some with knives or guns in their hands. "I thought we'd play a game. It's called Kill. Let's play." He shouts excitedly before the monsters come running at us, fangs at the ready.

The creatures bombard us, fangs surrounding us. Both Yuri and I try our best to fight them, but the sheer amount around us increases ever so quickly and soon, I can feel hands pulling me this way and that. A knife digs into my side, causing me to double over in pain. Looking over at Yuri, I see him with two Strigois at his neck, lapping his blood. My eyes sting at the sight. Another death from the monsters.

The day they and all other monsters such as the Hunters are wiped out will be the day every guardian, every dhampir and Moroi who's died at their hands can rest in peace finally.

Suddenly, the Strigoi back away, with the Strigoi from earlier pausing at my feet. "Pathetic. I'd hoped for more... fight. Maybe some more action. Oh well." He says, looking down at me, black hair hanging ovwr his red eyes. Leave him. He'll die soon enough."

The Strigoi all rapidly leave, making their way towards the academy. I've failed. I can't do anything now. Dragging myself to the trunk of a tree, I sit up, hand on my wound. Blood seeps through my black t-shirt staining my hand, red all over my skin.

I sit here for minutes, now and then Strigoi passing me without even looking. Running through the trees, I've counted almost a hundred and I know there are more than that. I can hear screams coming from the academy. Every now and then, a guardian would come near, just to be taken down by strigoi. I've never seen so many. The only reason I can think of is because of the Hunters.

The evil children of Strigoi. Them and the Elementals. They must be behind this...

An hour or so later, and the amount of Strigoi running towards the academy has slowed down. Around me are a few guardians fighting a few meters away, 50 or so. The sounds of heavy breathing and scuffling fill my ears. I try to ignore the sound of screams as much as I can.

"Dimitri!" I hear someone shouting from somewhere around me. Lifting my head up slowly to see who it is. I notice Roza. Roza. Why is she here? It's too dangerous. She runs over to me, kneeling down next to me and checking my wound on the side. The knife still in.

"Roza. Leave now. Get out of here. There's too many of them." I tell her, trying to push her away so she can save herself, so she can live but failing from my lack of strength due to blood loss.

Laughing lightly, she looks at me, saying, "Oh come on Comrade. You think I can't handle these." My heart beats faster at the mention of the name, said with such emotion. I've missed her. So much. Pulling up my shirt slightly, she grabs onto the end of the knife in my side, her hands gliding over the cool metal. "Okay, I'm going to pull this out quickly okay..."

Wait, what? "No, Roza, that'll kill me quicker." I admit quietly, feeling the strength leave my body.

"Dimitri. I need to tell you something. And you have to promise not to hate me okay..."Roza asks me, nervous all of a sudden, taking over her features.

Hate her? How could I? I love her. Helplessly. With all my heart. "I could never hate you Roza." I say, smiling and looking at her. Hoping to show how sorry I am for everything that's happened. That I still love her.

"I'm a hunter." She admits before pulling out the knife and seemingly healing it over.

What? Did I hear that right? Impossible. She can't. But... She's a monster. "Hunter!?" I shout out, disgust lacing my tone. I move away from her, shocked by her admission. "You can't be. You can't. No. You're not a monster." I mention to myself, the beginning of denial clear in my voice.

"I know." I hear before being pulled up and rapidly taken somewhere. I can feel wind hitting against me. Within a few seconds, I'm by a door, looking up to see Rose and Shane. Their both Hunters? They must be. They're cousins. How did she run that far? How did she heal me?

She's a monster. Now, I have to kill her... but she's gone before I have the chance.

**Adrian's POV**

"It's finally over. Come on, let's go." Eddie says to us before meeting up with the other guardians. He, Tyler and Jacob are explaining their events to them, and all the dhampirs and Moroi are shocked at how they managed to kill so many.

"Eddie, Tyler, Jacob." We hear from behind us. "Have you seen Rose or Shane?" Petrov asks, hands behind her back.

"Scum." We hear a guardian say. "We should kill them quickly." So they know?

"Why? What happened?" Tyler asks, sounding innocent. And shocked.

They're Hunters." Alberta announces. Everyone around us gasps in shock, some start shouting.

"How did Hunters get here?" And all other sorts of obscenities.

"They shocked us all. But they're hunters. So they must die." Alberta mentions, but her aura seems unsure. Maybe because she saw them helping she'll change her opinion.

Clary-  _Guys. Get our stuff from our rooms and take it to the church attic. It'll be safe there. Bring Viktor to the cabin as well. Toothless will meet you there._ I hear telepathically from Charlie. Good to know she's alive.

After the guardians leave, Tyler and Scott go to take Viktor to Shane and Charlie while Eddie and I go get her stuff. Apparently she has some books and other things that the Moroi and dhampirs, my kind, shouldn't get a hold of. All around us, people are talking about the news. The two Hunters in school. All disgusted. But some aren't as much as others. The ones that witnessed it for themselves. Maybe this is a good thing.

**Lissa's POV**

"Rose is a hunter!?" I hear from everyone around me. Some even asking if I knew. Why would I know? I don't know her. Obviously. The Hathaways are Hunters. Her and Shane. Janine probably too. Monsters.

_Are they? You haven't always thought that._

"Have you, Lissa?" The voice. Is real. But not that voice. The one who controls my mind. Makes me forget. I keep breaking free of her hold, only for her to wrap me in her chains again.

"No. Tasha." During the attack, I remembered everything. How she compelled me. Manipulated me. I don't know how. I can't explain it. Or understand it.

"Good. It'd be bad if you thought she was anything but a monster." Tasha says, talking about Rose.

Rose. She's a Hunter. And Shane. I never... why didn't she tell me? I don't believe she's bad though. I know Rose. Or so I thought... There's more to this than meets they eye. But first I need to deal with Tasha. She's already controlled me. Like a puppet. She forced me to break up with Christian, hang out with annoying and despicable Royals, ignore my best friend. My sister. I need to find her. I need to talk to Rose.


	17. Chapter 16- On The Run

**Chapter 16- On The Run**

**Eddie's POV**

"Did you know?" Petrov asks me in the grey interrogating room, all the guardians in the room are glaring at me as if I was Charlie or Shane.

"No. I had no clue." I tell them, making myself seem as innocent as possible. "If I had known I would've told you."

"They were your best friends and since Hathaway's trip to New York you have all been incredibly friendly with each other. More so than usual…" Alberta trails off, looking at me with suspicion.

Once we were told of Charlie and Shanes appearance as hunters, everyone close to either of them have been questioned immediately. At the moment, everyone in the academy is in panic. How could two hunters have been here for so long without anyone knowing? That's the main question they're asking at the moment.

The dhampir and the Moroi have even called Janine Hathaway to come here, knowing she's a hunter. I'm not sure if she got out in time but seeing as how they spoke of her coming here tomorrow, I highly doubt it. I don't think she knows yet.

"I hadn't seen Rose in a week and Lissa and her had fallen out so she hung out with us instead for a while."

"Really?" Alberta asks, eyeing me up as if she had a plan. "I'm sure you know nothing of the Hathaways abduction of Victor Dashkov then." She mentions, trying to catch me out.

Feigning surprise I say, "What? They took him... I had no clue. Really, I didn't."... But I did...

After another hour they let me go, hopefully satisfied that I know nothing. I really hope those two are okay…

**Emily's POV**

"You all okay?" I ask the others once they finish being interrogated by the guardians.

"Yeah, you?" Eddie asks me once we all sit in the cafeteria at a secluded table.

"Yeah, I guess. They don't suspect anything, do they?" I ask, worrying for the seven of us left now that Shane and Charlie have gone.

"Nothing concrete." Tyler states, exhaustion covering his gaze just as it does the rest of us.

"What now then?" Christian whispers from my left. Yeah. What now?

"We don't draw any suspicion to any of us but now is the right time to get people on our side." Scott announces to us all, a plan already coming together in his head. "It's guaranteed thatat least one person will start to doubt what they know about our kind. They saw Shane and Charlie do things that, according to the dhamps and vamps, should be impossible to do. Plus, they know the two of them. That alone will make them doubt everything they know. We just need to figure out how who to start with."

"We should start rumours. Just little ones. To help back up the story that the two are good people." Eddie adds, his gaze flitting around the room quickly. "Adrian, keep an eye on everyone's auras, their suspicions will show there first." At that, Adrian nods before speaking.

"There is already a few people. Alberta is… unsure of everything at the moment… As is Alto but he's too stubborn to say for certain. Mainly people who saw the two in action." Adrian mentions. I can tell both he and Christian want to desperately help our cause. It's the good that we have these two Moroi on our side.

"Plus, a few of the novices are starting to question things after seeing Shane and Charlie save them." Christian utters to our group quietly.

I might not be able to see auras but I can tell we all miss the two. But it's up to us to look after everything here now. I'm just worried… About Shane and Charlie, about us. Let's hope nothing else pops up. God knows this is already complicated enough.

**Clary's POV**

_You need to leave. Both Shane and I have shown our true selves. They'll know you're a hunter now._

_Don't worry, Winchester. I'll be fine. Plus, I'm going to let them take me..._

_What?!_ I scream out at her telepathically. _Let them get you?! Don't be an idiot. They'll kill you the first chance they get._ For someone so smart, she sure can be an idiot.

_Listen to me. They won't kill me. Not straight away. And they don't know that I know of you little show, so let them think they have an upper hand for a while._ Bella says to me through her thoughts. They'll want to interrogate me in front of all the guardians at the academy. And then I can see which ones have the mosy suspicion in all the Moroi's lies so then I can start planting the thoughts of a rebellion. See Charlie, I do have a plan.

Damn it, she's right. Why didn't I think of it sooner? She can use her spirit to see their auras and help start the rebel...

_Wait, rebellion?_ I ask, finally catching up with her plan.

_It's the right time for one, kid. It's now or never._

A rebellion would help... If we had enough dhampirs and Moroi on our side, we'd have more of an effect...

_You're right. Okay. You do that. Just be careful Bella._ I warn her.

_I'm the great Bella Campbell. I'll be fine. Plus, the idea of Janine Hathaway being a hunter will help push forward the rebellion._

_Okay. Fine. Look, I'll speak to you later. Bye Bella._

_Bye Charlie._

"Everything okay?" Shane asks from the driver's seat in the car, glancing towards me for a second.

"Fine. She's going to play along and go with them and plant ideas of a rebellion in a few guardians minds." I inform him of her crazy plan.

"Really? Good job Aunt Bella." He laughs at her plan and before long I join in and in minutes we are both laughing uncontrollably at the situation before us. It takes us another few minutes to control ourselves again before turning to our six passengers, 5 strigoi and Viktor Dashkov.

"You okay back there?" I ask as I notice Viktor leaning further away from the hissing strigoi.

"F-fine. Do we really need to bring them with us?" He complains, not taking his eyes off of the 5 vampires.

"The Elders need to deal with them whilst we deal with you." Shane admits, eyes firmly on the balck road in front.

"We're not far. We're driving into Seattle now. It'll be about an hour or so until we get to..." I start to say before being cut off.

"To Mount Zavno." Viktor asks casually.

Both Shane and I rapidly turn in our black seats to look at the Moroi. "How the hell do you know about Mount Zavno?" We scream at him, shocked by his words. No-one knows about that place apart from our kind and the Alchemists.

"An Elemental told me a long time ago..." He says almost to hinself as if he's remembering a precious memory. "I was going to show you how I knew everything Clary but seeing as we were preoccupied I never had the chance. Let me show you now." He announces whilst coming closer to my seat.

"At Mount Zavno. Let us get there first." I say before noticing how close we are. When I visited last with Adrian we flew here on Toothless but there are other ways to get there...

Shane pulls the car up after an hour at an old warehouse at the docks of the city. Jumping out of the cramped car, I stretch my muscles before hauling out the strigoi fron the back and grabbing Dashkov out.

"Where to now? This isn't how we used to get in..." Viktor mentions before turning to me expectantly.

"What? The portals. No. We don't use them anymore. Too susceptible to damage by hexes from witches." I announce before walking off to a little shack at the end of the dock. As I notice his confused face, I tell him to wait before grabbing some chocolate from one of my pockets.

Walking closer to the little shack, I notice Viktor looking intently at it's design. It's covered in sigils and symbols and on the board of the shop it says 'Misty's herbs' under a large seven pointed star.

"Hey, Misty. You there?" I call out.

I hear a high pitched giggle from inside the little shack before a short blonde girl skips out. "Going to Zavno, Charlie?" She asks in her melodious voice.

"Yep, here's the payment." I say before tossing her the chocolate bar. Leaning towards Viktor I explain, "Misty's one of the Fae. You can tell by the pointed ears. She controls this passage way into Zavno, and as a reward whoever crosses has to give her some sweet as payment."

"The Fae I've met were all... Tall and white-haired. Not her..." He admits, his voice sounding curiouser and curiouser. I've got to say, I like this side of Dashkov but I still don't trust him fully.

"They'll be the Elfen Fae. I'm one of the Fairie Fae. There are different types. And don't call me Elfen or I'll rip your fangs out Moroi." Misty states whilst chewing on the chocolate casually, not even glancing towards us.

Stepping back, Viktor stands in slight shock at the small Faes threat before I drag him along with Shane and the Strigoi into the little boat at the side of the shack.

"Have a nice journey Winchesters. Be careful of the currents." Misty waves back before disappearing back into her shack as Shane and I shout our goodbyes.

"She's a handful." Viktor comments quietly.

"You have no idea." Shane admits before falling into the small boat. I push the Strigoi in and knock them out to make the journey easier before Dashkov steps in.

Once we're all in Viktor starts to question if we're rowing to Zavno before the boat is pulled into the water below with a large splash and the current starts dragging us below the surface into the bottom of the water.

"What?! Is this safe?" Viktor questions frantically as he sees the boat filling up with water.

Smirking slightly towards my cousin, I say 'usually' before we are submerged in the water, not missing the fear of death on Dashkov's face for a mere second.

Once we are underneath the water, an invisible force starts to drag us further away out from the docks at higher and higher speeds. It only takes a few minutes before the boat starts to surface again at the docks of Zavno where Toothless lays, waiting for us.

Once we've surfaced properly, Viktor leaps out of the boat, already dry thanks to a spell on the boat to look at us excitedly. "That was amazing. I'd forgotten how great your world was." He mentions making the two of us curiouser to know his story.

But first we have to take the Strigoi to the Elders...

Dragging the 5 unconscious bodies into thr mountain, I notice Dashkov tailing us whilst looking around in awe. Strange? How does he know about all this?

Walking into a chamber below the meeting chamber, we unceremoniously dump the bodies on the floor whilst looking over at the people in the rooms.

"These are the Strigoi we found that weren't killed. The rest are dead." Shane announces before Elder Acker kneesls before one to look at it's body.

"Very well." He says in his deep timber voice. "Bobby will take over from here. You two deal with Dashkov." He commands before the Elders all slip out leaving Bobby, Sam and Dean with us in the room.

"Nice job you two." Bobby mentions before starting to move the Strigoi into chains and seats so he can do his job.

"Yeah. Good job. We have to deal with this but we'll speak later k?" Sammy says before hugging the two of us and going over to help Bobby.

"Sure thing." I say before going over to Dean to give him a hug and leaving the three to the Strigoi.

"C'mon. We need to deal with this one." Shane says before dragging me and Dashkov away and out of the mountain. A few minutes later, we walk out of the entrance and onto one of the empty training grounds on the west side of the island.

Once there, Viktor sits down on one of the benches surrounding the arena, looking around.

"Now you can show me, Dashkov." I say before grabbing his hand and looking into his past...

Quickly I find the memories I need and once I see everything I understand...

The first memory takes place at a crossroads.

I know what that means. He made a deal. I see a young Viktor Dashkov standing as a familiar demon comes up before him. The red eyed demon walks forward, brushing off tiny specks of dust off of his prim suit.

Crowley. Going through the memory I see that Viktor made a soul deal with that pain in my ass. To save his... Brother? I didn't know he had a brother.

It's the usual soul deal... He gets a year out of it. Wow, just a year? I wonder why that is. The standard is a decade.

Quickly, I turn to the second memory. It takes place here, in Zavno. Years ago before I was born. The island looks as it did in a few old pictures I've seen at Bobby's. Nothing happens. Just Viktor with the Elders... Speaking about a rebellion. I'll have to ask the council about that later on.

The third memory is different. There's a different feeling to it. One of urgency. I see the memory through Viktor's eyes. It must be at least 20 years old. It takes place in the Moroi court as I notice the buildings and statues are still similar to the ones I've seen in my brief visits.

A young man comes walking up to Dashkov, and I can tell that it's an Elemental. What's an Elemental doing in court?

The man is tall, at least 6ft 2" and has bright blonde hair and ice blue eyes. And for some reason he looks incredibly familiar...

"You came?" The young Viktor Dashkov asks, sounding surprised at the fact.

"Of course. It's important. Now tell me. Has he tried to contact you again?" The man asks quietly, careful of the numerous Moroi and dhampirs around them.

"No. He hasn't. But my time's almost up. What do I do?" Viktor asks, panicing slightlu at something.

"Crowley knows that you've contacted me and he knows that you want out of the deal. We'll help you any way we can. Won't we?" The blonde man says confidently before looking behind Viktor Dashkov.

At this, Viktor turns around and comes eye to eye with a young woman in her late twenties. With blonde hair and brown eyes. The woman looks at the Moroi and smiles as if she's confident that they can help.

At that I break the connection, sorting through numerous other memories and information hurriedly before realising that the woman in that memory... I knew her.

"You knew my mother?"

 


End file.
